Welcome back Everyone! It has been a few days since I posted a new review. Well, I got a new bottle as a gift that I have never seen or heard about so I thought I should open it and try it. Then potentially write a review about it. Here I am, so I did open it haha. Let me tell you more about THE JOHN CRABBIE & CO. and their whisky.

The Story of The John Crabbie & CO.

From the middle of the 19th century, John Crabbie blended his own range of whiskies. In addition to procuring large stocks of Scottish single malt whisky, from some of the finest distilleries, Crabbie signed licences to produce his own whiskies at distilleries such as Balmanech and Benrinnes. However, his commitment to the field of whisky industry stretched further. Crabbie was co-founder of Edinburgh's prestigious North British grain distillery, still very much a feature of the city today, and more than two centuries after his birth, his name is being restored to that distilling scene with the creation of a new Crabbie's malt distillery in Leith. Company archives reveal hand-written record of sales sheets to companies as far afield as New York, Buenos Aires, Constantinople, and St. Vincent.

Crabbie's glory years span from the 1830s. These were pioneering times, and it seems John Crabbie and his successors were possessed of the same self-confidence as other famous explorers were responsible for building The British Empire. Using the Port of Leith in Edinburgh as its base, the company sent its products to the world – also seeking to bring the finest world products back to Scotland. Records show that its team of drinks makers was experimenting with a vast array of fruit, grains, herbs, spices and spirits – creating new and exciting beverages. 

John Crabbie was born on 2nd December 1806, the third child of Johan Duncan and Millar Crabbie an upholsterer. However by 1814, Millar's business was described as a grocer, operating from 15, Canongate in the centre of Edinburgh.

John Crabbie never ran this family's business, it seems John had more ambitious plans for his venture.  He set up his own business dealing in alcoholic drinks around 1832 in Edinburgh's Giles Street, before going into partnership with one William Cree four years later. Crabbie's surviving business ledger shows him trading between 1836 and 1839 in 'malt' and 'aqua' from 'Canonbridge', (perhaps actually 'Canonmills' in Edinburgh) 'Kirkliston' (close to Edinburgh and equipped with a patent still), and 'J Haig' (quite possibly John Haig of Cameronbridge). Crabbie and Cree acquired the Leith firm of James Wyld & Co in 1836, dispensing with the grocery side of the operation which Wyld had developed, and concentrating on retailing wine and spirits. By 1838, the firm had moved into Wyld's capacious premises in Leith. This was the golden period for Crabbie & Cree and the company was not only exporting by now, it was importing ingredients from India, China, Indonesia and Nigeria among other places.

When William Cree died in 1840, the company was renamed John Crabbie & Co. John and would go on to buy more property in Leith, establishing bonded warehouses and a distillery as well a distillery at Haddington, and invested in railway stock across the world.

Arund 1852 Crabbie acquired a former porter brewery on Great Junction Street in Leith, close to Yardheads distillery, which operated until 1884. The ex-brewery became the centre of Crabbie's blending and bottling activities, along with the rectification of gin and the production of fruit cordials. As an independent bottler, Crabbie traded with more than 70 Scottish distilleries from which he sourced casks to bottle under the Crabbie name. Malt whisky was also produced for him under licence at a number of distilleries, including the Speyside duo of Balmenach and Benrinnes.

As well as bottling malt whisky, Crabbie was keenly aware of the opportunities provided by blending malt and grain whisky as the art developed from the mid-19th century onwards. In 1852 he acquired Westfield distillery in Haddington, East Lothian, which was equipped with a Coffey still to produce grain whisky. Westfield closed a decade later, however, after a number of issues relating to pollution of the River Tyne.

Perhaps John Crabbie's biggest contribution to the burgeoning success story of Scotch whisky came in 1885, when he teamed up with whisky icon Andrew Usher and William Sanderson to found The North British Distilling Company, supplying a new, independent and cheap source of grain whisky. By 1897 the new distillery was producing more than 13 million litres of grain spirit a year – bigger than any single malt distillery in Scotland today. As his business grew John spent more time getting involved with local politics. He bought a property in Royal Terrace, which became known as Whisky Row because several spirits merchants lived there and the properties had a view of the ships arriving in to Leith.

Business went from strength, and in time his sons and grandsons would join the company and eventually run it. He died at Royal Terrace in 1891, leaving his business and assets across the world to his family. Much of his estate was sold off, with generous payments to his servants and to hospitals and charities in Edinburgh and Leith. 

Today his name is synonymous with alcoholic ginger beer, but John Crabbie was in fact one of the most respected whisky blenders in 19th century Edinburgh.

The Bonnington Distillery - the home of John Crabbie & Co.

The Bonnington story began in 2017 on Graham Street in Leith, Edinburgh, just a stone's throw away from the original John Crabbie's site – one of the oldest names in Scotch whisky and a true pioneer in the industry, The distillery is steeped in history and takes its name from the original Bonnington House which was a military HQ during the siege of Edinburgh castle, which can be seen from the Distillery building.

Whilst building the foundations for the distillery, ruins of the old fortifications were discovered and taken over by archaeologists to excavate and photograph, providing the inspiration for our citadel icon.

The first single malt distillery in Leith, Edinburgh for nearly 100 years, Bonnington Distillery was commissioned in December 2019 and began production in March 2020, with an estimated 2200 casks per year.

The shape and style of their squat-neck stills, made at Speyside Copper Works in Keith, enables them to produce a spirit that is more Highland in style than traditional Lowland – taking inspiration from John Crabbie's stills of the 1860s.

They have a direct local water source, as all of their water comes from an ancient aquifer located 147m under the distillery.

They also have access to both peated and unpeated malt, and have built up a wide variety of unique casks that will give them the opportunity to experiment with a range of innovative finishes in future releases.

This state-of-the-art distillery has unique Twin-Linked Receivers, which means the distillers can create two different spirit types from the same distillation. In addition, the two enormous 30-tonne grain silos mean they can use two tonnes of malted barley per mash. There is a single 2.5-tonne mash tun and six 10,000 litre fermentation vessels inside which the wort is fermented for at least 48 hours.

Their range consists of the Crabbie & Cree Blended Scotch whisky, The Johnny Cree Lowland Single Malt Scotch whisky, the John Crabbie Single Malt Scotch whisky the James Wyld Lowland Single Malt Scotch whisky and the Nor'Loch Blended Scotch whisky. They also have Limited Releases. The Bonnington Inaugurual Release and the Bonnington Sherry Cask.

Johnny Cree Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky - Natural Color (?), Non-chill filtered (?), 40%

"Johnny Cree was the grandson of Scottish whisky maker John Crabbie, and here he's celebrated with a Lowland single malt Scotch from the Bonnington distillery. It was aged in a combo of casks: 75% in bourbon barrels, 15% virgin American oak, and 10% red wine casks." 

So this is a whisky from the Bonnington Distillery, which makes it around 3-4 years old which is fine. The cask usage is also great, because most of the whisky was aged in ex-bourbon hence we get the distillery character. The bottle design is very good, feels very premium. I am very curious how this whisky tastes. Let's get into it.

Nose: Ok. Very fresh and floral. Right away it gives away that this is a young whisky. A very slight metallic note. But that's it. And believe it or not I am not bothered by it. I am more bothered when a distillery uses 3-4 types of casks for their young releases to mask it and make it drinkable. I digress. Very fresh orchard fruits such as green apples, pears and apricots. Then we get a lovely malty base and some vanilla and toffee. A hint of red wine in the from of red grapes and red berries. A nice toasted oak note with toffee. Not too complex but not bad either!

Taste: At first it comes off veery light and maybe too thin. On the second sip you are getting more. And on the third sip you get the full flavour wheel that you have been waiting for. Orchard fruits. Green and red apples. Juicy apricots and pears. You get freshly cut gress and wet wood. Redcurrants and raspberries. Vanilla sauce with toffee. A nice malty note again with toasted oak. This is what you can expect from a young whisky.

Finish: The finish is short or medium. So it makes you drink drink and drink. Perhaps it's the low ABV, and the youthfulness of the whisky. You get the orchard fruits and a slight pepper rush with notes of vanilla and toasted oak.

Overall I think this is an OK whisky. Yes, it's young and yes it's only 40% ABV. I think this release deserves a spot on the shelves of the stores because at this age this is much better than a lot of big distilleries NAS releases. I think the nose is great and the taste gets very nice after a few sips. The finish is short but it's ok. Nothing is bad about this whisky, but nothing is too good about this whisky either. I think it's worth a shot. Even a full bottle at around 30 EUR is money well spent. I will give this whisky 82 / 100. Buy it, try it and let me know.

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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.