Welcome all Whiskey Vaulters to Story Time with Daniel! (Just finished my bonafide course yesterday 😊. Additionally I bought a number of those bottles for Xmas gifts as well as for myself, I love it and the recipients that have tried it have also really enjoyed this release)
Always have a soft spot for independent's. Seems like the heart of innovation in any industry. An independent with a popular item ( whiskey or any other) also pushes the big companies to keep up. Great video!
This was the best video of the new series thus far! I struggled adapting to the change, but I feel like we’re getting more nerdy whisky talk in the recent videos. Thanks Daniel! For me this is why I started watching years ago. Keep it up!🥃👍🏽
I think Vallinch and Mallet is an IB that got some American barrels. Ibalways thought with the American Whiskey market there was no room from IBs. The distillers here had no barrels to spare. I’m glad there is a market for them. I’ll check my locals for IBs at their stores.
When I heard there was going to be a change in the format, I was a bit skeptical. Love the dynamic between Daniel and Rex. I am happy to say I am absolutely loving the new format. Thank you Daniel for everything you're doing for the whiskey community. Your knowledge and story telling are superb. Cheers!
You went on a rant? You? I'm SHOCKED! SHOCKED! Seriously though, I much prefer this conversational style over the Ted Talk style that some of the early solo videos had. Loving it!
2 of my favorite bottlers are farmers who grow and distill their own grains. They are only available locally though.. One of them has recently offered bottle for shipping. One makes one of my favorite bourbons. The othre one is where I buy my absolute favorite rye, and they also offer a great American single malt.
One thing that is currently detrimental to independent bottlers is the fact that they can't ship to all states. I should be able to have alcohol shipped to my house by any distillery, but I can't. I have been able to find certain websites that ship to Alabama, but evidently, the lost lantern can't. Who is working to change this legislation? I was about to pull the trigger on a Lost Lantern Port finished Westward whiskey, but the can't ship here. Oh, but I was able to buy the bottle you reviewed in this video. It's incredible! I'm new to american single malts, and they're growing on me. Looking forward to exploring this genre.
THANKS DANIEL FOR THE VIDS RIGHT AFTER I WATCHED THE VIDEO I WENT TO SINGLE CASK NATION AND THE FIRST THING II SAY WAS THAT THEY WERE JUST BOUGHT BY SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY YESTERDAY
Independent bottlers tend to be my favorite whiskies plus many are cask strength. Plus I get to try so many scotches I would have no other way to try. American Indy bottlers are awesome. Cheers
Frankly, I am really disappointed that the "whiskey world" has been so slow to promote home distilling just as brewing craft beer was a few years back. It's legal to brew our own beer. We can legally make our own wine. In many states we can even grow our own weed, yet it remains a FELONY to distill spirits for our personal use. That's just farking crazy.
The current liquor excise tax, with its related licensing and fees, is what Congress enacted to get money to pay for the invasion of the Confederate States of America. And unlike earlier excise liquor taxes, Congress never repealed it after it had served its purpose of paying for the war. It's still in place because DC wants your money, and wants to dictate to every distiller in the country.
There was a great independent bottler here in Toronto that was sourcing amazing whiskies back in the early aughts - then they transitioned to distilling for themselves.
For me what I like with IBs was that you could try a component of a blend at not too much money. I remember getting 10-12 yo GlenBurgie Scotch that was super tasty. Now IB pricing from the big boys has gotten insane IME.
I'd been looking for Caol Ila forever, but nobody around here carries it. That is except for the shop I just found which has a buttload of Indy bottles. I got me a single cask full strength 7 year old. (Distiller's Art) It's amazing! Seems like Indy bottlers are really interested in presenting an unadulterated product
You can't fond Caol Ila? That's amazing buddy. Where do you live? Antarctica! Caol Ila is the driving force of all independent bottles. There's oceans of the stuff. Seriously, if you can get your hands on a indi bottle it's a pretty safe bet. It's nearly always better than the distillery releases.
Not sure if it's the best place to ask this question, but I'd really like Daniel's take on the changes the TTB have made to the official/controlled whisky terms. Apparently the TTB has now decided you can keep your original Class Type Designation after finishing a whisky. No need to add "finished in..."
I absolutely love this video and the message. One of my favorite distilleries in the world is Linkwood. Besides the Flora & Fauna bottle (which isn't available in the US that I know of), the only way to get it outside of a blend is as an independent bottling. I have had about a dozen different bottles from various bottlers, and I am very thankful. If anyone reads this and has not tried an independent bottling of a distillery, I highly recommend it. Some of the best whisk(e)y I have ever had was had this way. Cheers to all.
Very nice take on what indies do! Next step (ok, from a European standpoint) see what bottlers (in this case of scotch) in scotland are like. Then look at the palates of French, German, Dutch, ... bottlers. There are cultural differences! Thanks for the inspiration across the pond!
It lets you see the different things you can get from two places doing close to the same thing. At BB lost lantern had a bottle they sourced that was similar to one the distillery had there a few tables over. They were both peated or smoked, I forget since it was a busy day. But they were different.
Daniel on an unhinged rant? I would NEVER believe that. Meanwhile, like everything else, the indie scene is where cool stuff happens, so this makes perfect sense. I'll be on the lookout for interesting bottlings in my area thanks to this, can't wait to see what I come up with.
I learned about Independent Bottlers from you and Rex years ago. I determined last year that I would love nothing more than to become an Independent Bottler to highlight Colorado Distilleries! But that is just a dream for now. But I've even connected with Adam P and I will see if he can give me tips when the time comes. Thank you for another great conversation!! -Jeff C.W.G.
Great episode as always Daniel. I earned my Bona Fide Card yesterday! Can't wait for it to arrive! I read the book "Tasting Whiskey" by Lew Bryson last year. It was a great book and I learned a ton from it. But I loved the Bona Fide Whiskey Enthusiast course because it put a nice bow around my knowledge and made it interesting to get your insights!
Ugh... now I need to open up my bottle. How dare you make me drink more delicious whiskey! Andalusia is doing AMAZING work, to the point where I am now actually invested in their future endeavors. I grinned when you mentioned Lost Lantern, as I also purchased a barrel pick of Andalusia through them too. 🖖😎🥃
👏👊 As usual, I love the passion and drive you exude for this craft. I just wish so much that I could utilize my G.I bill, and attend the school. Hopefully some day I'll be able to. Until then, cheers.
Compass box really opened my eyes to this. I know why full transparency of what is in the bottle isn’t widespread, they’re afraid (and rightfully so looking at the widespread consumer) that sales would drop if people knew what was actually in the bottle. However my thoughts on it are that more fantastic products would come from it. Being that independent bottlers would know where to get what. I want every bottle to have all information and nerdery. But it will probably never happen. 🥃
As a corollary to why Independent Bottlers (in Scotland) are important. Many of the 100+ distilleries are owned by the big blending houses, there for most of their production is dedicated to those blends. They NEVER do a distillery bottling. Thus, those few barrels sourced from them give us a taste of their product unavailable any other way!
Yet another great video, Daniel. But my brain had the wise man in the portrait extending his hand to use The Force to try and get that mic out of the shot. 😂
Independent business owners who choose to start a business like a distillery, where the competition is tough and the snobs are thick, requires passion to begin and talent to endure. I tend to believe that real, genuine art is incompatible with too big a business. After companies get too big their economics change and they start to make stuff the boardroom will like as opposed to their customers. Independent brewers, vintners and distillers are where innovation *lives.*
Simple answer: innovation. Sometimes the old guys get stuck in their ways and become risk-averse. Thankfully, independents HAVE to take risks in order to survive.
Sort of. But the brand chooses and curates the release. And often even ages it on their own instead of just picking a barrel and having a distillery release it
Guys, I didn't get the idea and I have some questions (if someone could explain I would appreciate) 1. Why would a distillery, that bottle their own whisky, sell a specific barrel to someone else to release instead of releasing themselves, wouldn't that be more profitable or better for the company the actually made the whisky? 2. If the answer to the question number 1 is the reach and marketing of the independent bottler (getting to more people in different parts of the country ou even the world, inside bigger retailers and etc...), would that only work with small distilleries that don't have the name and reach yet? I think the real question is why independent bottlers are a good thing for the distilleries? PS: I am not hating on the ideia, I actually found it amazing. I live in Brazil, not a big whisky country, and I would love to be able to try some whiskies from different parts of the country (most of brazils whisky distilleries are very small and we have a hard time finding them).
I feel like that was said, but let me be a little more direct. Growth for distillers comes from introducing versions of their product to the world that might never have seen the light of day. Especially in larger brand operations where they don't have the flexibility to do single barrel releases. Even more so in distilleries who are only focused on a few core products but end up with remarkable small batch things that don't fit their brand schedule. and if the independent bottler has a sizable audience, it's an extremely fast way for the distillery to market to an entire new group of people and get paid to do it. For a small distillery, it's marketing that you're actually getting paid for. Which is amazing. for a big distillery it's the same, but also allow people to try unique releases from your distillery.
I always wanted to start my own distillery but a little thing like cash flow got in the way….lol Maybe I need to start a independent bottling company! Can I get info from you Daniel? 😊
holy shit i was just wondering how many years ago this vid was made and to my surprise only 3 hrs lol i feel like im on the ground floor to something here love you guys and jealous you doing what you love, i dabbled in homebrewing and distilling and made some nice stuff but its been a while i would like to get back in the game, btw daniel i swear i saw your exact double one day when i was fishing this guy at the dock looked exactly like you down to the face beard height and clothes and tats he was about to go on a skidoo i could not get him to confirm his name was daniel lol you would not happen to have been at lake simcoe cooks bay in gilford in ontario a few summers ago would you?
hmmmm if you say so lol man i only wish i could have took a pic of him to show you , the laughs we all coulda had , rex for sure would a cracked a gut @@WhiskeyVault
