Deanston 12 Year Old - 1990s

Deanston is a modern Highland distillery built in a converted 18th century mill in 1965. Whisky distillation began at Deanston in 1966 before a troubled ownership history led to the distillery being mothballed in 1982. Deanston was revived in 1991 by new owners Burn Stewart Distillers but another turbulent period followed after Burn Stewart was acquired by CL Financial. Finally, South Africa’s Distell Group bought Burn Stewart in 2013, since when Deanston and its sister distilleries Tobermory and Bunnahabhain have flourished.

Deanston’s first owners bottled the distillery’s malt whisky as Old Bannockburn, with the Deanston name appearing for the first time in 1974 during Invergordon’s unhappy tenure. The best official bottlings of Deanston whisky have been recent, with Distell releasing a cask strength 40-year-old and several excellent small batch vintage releases. Independent Deanston is easy to find, with Hunter Laing and Signatory Vintage bottlings among recent highlights.

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.