Clynelish 8 Year Old - Sutherland (Thompson Bros.)

The Thompson brothers (Phil and Simon) put family-owned Dornoch Castle Hotel on the map as one of the greatest whisky bars in the world, championed ‘old style’ whiskies made with heritage barley and traditional long fermentations, and put their beliefs into practice at the tiny Dornoch distillery from 2016. They now have plans for a much larger renewable-energy-powered distillery called Struie, and are also award-winning indie bottlers and blenders.

Based only a few miles from the revered Clynelish, it’s unsurprising that “its spirit has remained a constant obsession” for the brothers, “the quintessential soul of Sutherland whisky—oily, mineral, and unmistakably waxy”. Some of their Sutherland label bottlings are blended malts (Clynelish/Dornoch/dash o’ Brora), but here Clynelish is truly allowed to sing solo. Small vatting, refill hogsheads, proud Highland spirit character.