Auchentoshan 21 Year Old - 1990s

Founded on the western outskirts of Glasgow in 1823, Auchentoshan became part of Morrison Bowmore in 1984 shortly before the company was taken over by Japanese distilling giant Suntory. Auchentoshan was for a while one of only two surviving Lowland distilleries after Rosebank and Bladnoch closed in 1993. Auchentoshan has three stills and practices triple distillation in the classic Lowland style, making a light, easy-drinking whisky so popular that all of its production is bottled as single malt.

Former owners Eadie Cairns bottled both vintage and age statement Auchentoshans in the 1970s and 1980s prior to the distillery’s acquisition by Morrison Bowmore, who added a 21-year-old and the enormously popular Three Wood to the range and released dozens of superb long-aged vintage casks going back to the 1950s. Independent Auchentoshan is easy to find.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.