Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We often see ambiguous statements on some releases such as "Distilled at a Highland Distillery" or "Distilled at a distillery in Speyside" or even "From an undisclosed distillery" well, gee thanks. That doesn't tell us too much. We're single malt fans - we'd like to know please! Well, that's how some of us feel at least. But why? And why don't they say which distillery they're from?
Sometimes they're cleverly revealed without using the distillery name. If you happen across a bottle that states "From a distillery in the town of Brora" you don't need to be a modern Sherlock Holmes to work out that it isn't Brora, so it's a Clynelish. If it says "Orkney", unless we start to see a little more Scapa out there (please Chivas?) we know this to be a Highland Park, so it's not always completely opaque, but it often is. I'll look at a few “hidden" malts this week and consider why this exists, but also consider why loosening our need-to-know could benefit our drinking experience - and our wallets.
If you have any "hidden", "bastard" or "undisclosed" bottlings on hand, bring them along and share what they cost you. I’ll reveal the identity of a few I’ll share and some I’ve encountered. It would be great to welcome you there.
0:00 - Opening
2:32 - Dramface Podcasts Update
6:52 - Welcoming in the Whisky Folk & Barflies
10:41 - Limburg Festival (Barflies gathering? Also Islay from June 18th-25th too!)
13:45 - Overview of topic Brands, Whisky Aliases and Hidden Distilleries
18:20 - Branded Single Malts - Scarabus Batch Strength Uncorking
29:41 - "Tea-spooning" Whisky & Why
46:42 - Obvious, Opaque or Hidden Distilleries via Independents
50:52 - North Star Lynch Isle and Periodical Orkney 12yo
1:04:15 - Hidden and forever unknown bottlings
1:10:48 - Opaque and "hinted at" hidden malts
1:17:15 - Opening a Creative WC Hidden Speyside (Kininvie?)
1:23:42 - The cost of opacity vs rarity
1:30:25 - The takeaway. Staying open to value and new flavours over brands(?)
1:42:09 - Quiz at the End
We often see ambiguous statements on some releases such as "Distilled at a Highland Distillery" or "Distilled at a distillery in Speyside" or even "From an undisclosed distillery" well, gee thanks. That doesn't tell us too much. We're single malt fans - we'd like to know please! Well, that's how some of us feel at least. But why? And why don't they say which distillery they're from?
Sometimes they're cleverly revealed without using the distillery name. If you happen across a bottle that states "From a distillery in the town of Brora" you don't need to be a modern Sherlock Holmes to work out that it isn't Brora, so it's a Clynelish. If it says "Orkney", unless we start to see a little more Scapa out there (please Chivas?) we know this to be a Highland Park, so it's not always completely opaque, but it often is. I'll look at a few “hidden" malts this week and consider why this exists, but also consider why loosening our need-to-know could benefit our drinking experience - and our wallets.
If you have any "hidden", "bastard" or "undisclosed" bottlings on hand, bring them along and share what they cost you. I’ll reveal the identity of a few I’ll share and some I’ve encountered. It would be great to welcome you there.
0:00 - Opening
2:32 - Dramface Podcasts Update
6:52 - Welcoming in the Whisky Folk & Barflies
10:41 - Limburg Festival (Barflies gathering? Also Islay from June 18th-25th too!)
13:45 - Overview of topic Brands, Whisky Aliases and Hidden Distilleries
18:20 - Branded Single Malts - Scarabus Batch Strength Uncorking
29:41 - "Tea-spooning" Whisky & Why
46:42 - Obvious, Opaque or Hidden Distilleries via Independents
50:52 - North Star Lynch Isle and Periodical Orkney 12yo
1:04:15 - Hidden and forever unknown bottlings
1:10:48 - Opaque and "hinted at" hidden malts
1:17:15 - Opening a Creative WC Hidden Speyside (Kininvie?)
1:23:42 - The cost of opacity vs rarity
1:30:25 - The takeaway. Staying open to value and new flavours over brands(?)
1:42:09 - Quiz at the End
