Hey Everyone. I'm back with another review today. The bottle I'll review was a huge surprise to me. It is a 12 year old whisky from the Speyside. Doesn't even worth it to take a guess, because there are just so many Speyside distilleries. This bottle is coming from the That Boutique-y Whisky Company. I hope you enjoy todays' article, let's dive right into it.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company

That Boutique-y Whisky Company is an award-winning independent whisky bottler of distilleries from around the world, and maker of blends. 

Simply put, they bottle distilleries' whisky and slap their funky labels on the bottle.

There's a lot of things that make a Boutique-y Whisky, a boutique-y whisky. A lot of their whisky is unusual, unique and small batch. Usually all of their whiskies are non-chill filtered, natural color and bottled over 45%.

While they are passionate about great whisky, as you can see from their labels, they don't take themselves too seriously. There is a story behind every cartoon-y label, and that's why every label is hand drawn. Sometimes it speaks to the distillery, other times it speaks to something although it might not always make sense at first. Even their unnamed distillery bottle labels hold some clues…so that you can at least guess where the whisky is from.

What they bottled so far

• 79 of the 95 established single malt distilleries of Scotland. (OK some of these have been 'Teaspooned')

• They bottled a couple of the new Scottish distilleries too, there's 45 of them today (Malt Whisky Yearbook 2024)

• 6 of the 7 operational grain distilleries of Scotland.

• A number of Scotland's lost distilleries closed from the early 1980s including Port Ellen, Rosebank, Littlemill, and all seven of the lost grain distilleries.

But it's not all about Scotch Whisky! Alongside their scotch collection They've bottled plenty of whiskies from around the world:

• Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, South Africa, England, Ireland, Wales, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Finland, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Israel, Canada, and American Bourbons, Ryes, and Corn whiskeys.

Overall That Boutique-y Whisky Company is a very versatile and well established independent bottler. I hope someday soon they will bottle Hungarian whisky too.

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 12 yo TBWC - Natural Color, Non-Chill filtered, 45.8%

"Indulge in the refined elegance of our 12-year-old Speyside single malt, a harmonious symphony of flavours that pays homage to the lush landscapes and tranquil beauty of the Speyside region.

From a marriage of all new Oloroso casks, this expression unveils a captivating bouquet of caramelised nuts, orchard fruits, flamed orange peel, and smoky oak that greet the senses with a gentle embrace.

A small batch release of circa 1,000 litres each time

Non chill-filtered, and natural cask matured colour"

About the label

"Our label design settled for just the one deer, starting with a young buck, getting older, and more dignified, as the whiskies aged, finishing with the dominant stag who has been through some scapes in his life; older, wiser, and looks a little pissed with everything!

Our Speyside deer is a little more grown up this time around, and has gained a few 'pints' on his antlers.

We love the expression on his face. he's looking a little more serious this time, but not quite a 'Royal Stag' yet. Boutique-y Whisky artist, Emily Chappell, has captured our brief so perfectly, and has injected her magic into it, as usual.

The colours of the labels reflect the colour palette of the Aurora Borealis, while the 'wave pattern' across all of the labels symbolises the way the Aurora Borealis is always moving in the sky, if you've been lucky enough to see it."

Nose: Oh wow. Finally not a seasoned sherry cask note. This screams "I WAS MATURED IN A GREAT QUALITY SHERRY CASK!". Firstly orchard fruits such as juicy peaches and red apples. Then caramelized oranges in chocolate dip. Figs, raisins and dates. Almonds, nuts and a hint of cocoa. Leather straps, malt and oak. Lots of spices such as cardamom and cinnamon. Shows a great depth and complexity. Very sweet and round on the nose. Lovely.

Taste: Very nice viscosity. Great texture. Thick and sweet. Orchard fruits and then figs dates and raisins. Cranberry, raspberry and other forest fruits. Spicy. Milk chocolate, cocoa, manuka honey and brown sugar. Vanilla and buttered toast. Espresso. Christmas cake. Cinnamon, cardamom and white pepper. A nice oak influence with some leather. Very nice. It has multiple layers and it's not one dimensional. I like it.

Finish: Medium / long finish. It starts off very sweet with vanilla, toffee and brown sugar. Followed by raisins and almonds. A hint of espresso and oak. Spicy. Gets dry at the back of the palate. Great.

Overall I think this is a very nice quality bottling. Only if we knew from which distillery this bottle is from. Well as I said "Even their unnamed distillery bottle labels hold some clues…". So there is a deer on the label. They say that "We love the expression on his face. he's looking a little more serious this time, but not quite a 'Royal Stag' yet." meaning that in my opinion this is NOT a Dalmore. Why I think Royal Stag means Dalmore? READ THIS ARTICLE. What can this be then? The nearest distillery to Dalmore is Teaninich, and companies do bottle their whisky as Independent Bottlings lots of times. It could be that then. But what do I know? This is just me speculating. I will award this whisky with 88 / 100. An amazing dram at an amazing price. I would love to see more of these nice bottlings.

Some pictures in this article are not owned by me, I tagged their owner and I attached a link of their site. All other pictures that have my logo on them are TAKEN AND OWNED BY ME.

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Check out the points on all the whiskies I've rated and ranked head-to-head over HERE.

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