Stronachie 10 year old A D Rattray Benrinnes Single Speyside Malt Whisky 43%

Distillery: BenrinnesBottler: A. D. Rattray Vintage: Age: 10 years Type: Single Speyside Malt Whisky Cask number/type: Alc. strength: 43 % Number of bottles: Un-chillfiltered Natural Colour Other: 70 cl.Buy a 3 cl. sample of this product - Click here

A. Dewar RattrayThe actual Stronachie distillery is long, long gone. This is a brand that Dewar Rattray launched in an effort to replicate the style of whisky once produced at Stronachie -- apparently one of the Rattray folks had an ancient bottle of real-deal Stronachie, and after much exploration and experimentation, found that the whisky currently produced at Benrinnes most closely matched the antique Stronachie. Thus, Stronachie is actually Benrinnes whisky. Tim Morrison is one of Islay's whisky dinosaurs. He bought Dewar Rattray, a very high quality independent whisky bottler, in 2004. But Tim is probably best known for his family's former ownership of Morrison Bowmore at Islay. Tim's father, Stanley P. Morrison, bought Bowmore in 1963 for £117,000 - in 1994 the family sold the company to Japanese giant, Suntory, for a very different amount... Today, Tim Morrison is an elderly gentleman, and especially thanks to the above sale, he no longer has to work for a living - everything is now done for pleasure! Tim Morrison bought Dewar Rattray for two reasons. Firstly, he was a fourth-generation descendant of Andrew Dewar, one of the two founders of the company in 1868. Secondly, in 1989-1991, knowing the family would sell Bowmore to Suntory, he bought a very large number of casks from various distilleries to bottle and sell under the Dewar Rattray name. The casks are still the cornerstone of the current business. Tim Morrison bought from a total of 12 different distilleries, and these are now supplemented by casks he buys from brokers or distilleries. How many of the original casks remain is a trade secret - but what is certain is that there will continue to be a base for producing the very personal, often slightly smoky whiskies that Dewar Rattray has become so famous for around the world. Since our company was founded in 1868, we have aimed to delight the whisky enthusiast. Today our principal activity is the selection, storage and bottling of exceptional malt whiskies. The A D Rattray Ltd whiskies which form our Cask Collection portfolio are sourced from distilleries throughout Scotland. This extensive range of whiskies is bottled at natural strength and colour without any unnecessary chill-filtration. All of the flavour from the cask... ...in a bottle Founded by Andrew Dewar and William Rattray in 1868, A D Rattray began trading as an importer of French wines, Italian spirits and olive oil. More importantly, however, the company also established itself as a specialist in the field of blending and storage of malt and grain whiskies. In the latter part of the 1800s A D Rattray Ltd came to represent a number of well-known Highland Malt distilleries - most notably Stronachie* - selling bulk whisky to West of Scotland wine and spirit merchants, publicans and the main Scotch whisky blending houses in and around Glasgow.

Like many other merchants, A D Rattray Ltd suffered during the crisis of the early 1900s and in the late 1920s the partners sold the business to William Walker. Well-established as a whisky broker, Walker set about expanding the business with the acquisition of a number of smaller merchants. Despite rationing during the 2nd World War, the company continued to supply the West of Scotland licensed trade until Walker's death. A D Rattray Ltd has returned to the family and is owned by Mr Tim Morrison, previously of Morrison Bowmore Distillers and fourth generation descendent of Andrew Dewar. A D Rattray Ltd's resurgence stems back to early 2004 when, using his extensive knowledge and expertise in the whisky industry, Mr Morrison bottled a selection of his own handpicked stock of whiskies for market release. Today the company's principal purpose is to bottle unusual and exclusive casks of Scotch Whisky, with each one chosen to reflect the different styles of the six individual whisky regions of Scotland. Whether from Mr Morrison's own stock or independently sourced, only casks which are found to be of exceptional quality are bottled under the A D Rattray Cask Collection label and released into selected markets.