Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Which new distilleries do you think, despite having some time now, has failed to make it onto the map of interest for the whisky explorers?
I’m not really sure how we actually define a ‘new distillery’, as I think it’s pretty subjective, but how about something that’s come along in the last, say, couple of decades?
After all, Daftmill, Glengyle, Kilchoman and Arran are all capable of releasing malt whisky beyond twenty years old, so can we really still consider them new? So, let’s focus on distilleries that have come along since and see where we’re at.
It’s all relative but I think if we get to a stage where a distillery can release an 8 year old whisky, we should be pretty close to establishing its credentials as a whisky-maker; at least from the perspective of us as whisky chasers. Still a ‘new’ distillery - but perhaps already transitioning into an established brand with a reputation of some sort.
I did a little checking and, out of sixty newly built (or re-built) new Scottish distilleries producing malt whisky, we already have twenty-six who are capable of releasing a malt that is 8 years old or more. Twenty-six. That’s a lot.
But, still subjective of course, I would consider only a few of those to have made it into the whisky chaser’s zeitgeist. So far at least.
Too harsh? Well, that’s what this vPub is diving into.
I’ll discuss how some have made it, but focus on some others that may now be deserving of a little more attention, not simply because they are ‘no longer new’, but because they’re now - potentially, maybe - offering a really interesting and viable whisky. Let’s see.
But we’ll also be sharing why some of them, despite having plenty of whisky available, have yet to register more than a blip on the whisky chaser’s radar. Some are truly puzzling. I’ll uncork along the way, while we ask what these brands have achieved, especially now that so many of them are no longer ‘new’.
Tonight we’ll consider the successes, the possibilities and the unintelligibles.
I hope to welcome you there!
Timestamps (sorry for the delayed start!)
0:00 - Opening
12:48 - Livestream starts
15:48 - In the glass Wire Works Heritage Chevallier
17:04 - Brief intro to topic
18:24 - What gives me the right?
23:15 - Welcoming in The Lounge
32:42 - The recipe is simple, right?
47:03 - The 'successes' so far
1:00:24 - If there could be only one?
1:10:07 - Some 'possibles' we're still watching
1:22:25 - Lindors Friar John Cor £70
1:42:27 - The 'Unintelligibles' I don't yet get
1:58:40 - Inchdairnie Kinglassie Raw 8yo
2:10:56 - The wave of alternatives
2:31:30 - Quiz at the End
Which new distilleries do you think, despite having some time now, has failed to make it onto the map of interest for the whisky explorers?
I’m not really sure how we actually define a ‘new distillery’, as I think it’s pretty subjective, but how about something that’s come along in the last, say, couple of decades?
After all, Daftmill, Glengyle, Kilchoman and Arran are all capable of releasing malt whisky beyond twenty years old, so can we really still consider them new? So, let’s focus on distilleries that have come along since and see where we’re at.
It’s all relative but I think if we get to a stage where a distillery can release an 8 year old whisky, we should be pretty close to establishing its credentials as a whisky-maker; at least from the perspective of us as whisky chasers. Still a ‘new’ distillery - but perhaps already transitioning into an established brand with a reputation of some sort.
I did a little checking and, out of sixty newly built (or re-built) new Scottish distilleries producing malt whisky, we already have twenty-six who are capable of releasing a malt that is 8 years old or more. Twenty-six. That’s a lot.
But, still subjective of course, I would consider only a few of those to have made it into the whisky chaser’s zeitgeist. So far at least.
Too harsh? Well, that’s what this vPub is diving into.
I’ll discuss how some have made it, but focus on some others that may now be deserving of a little more attention, not simply because they are ‘no longer new’, but because they’re now - potentially, maybe - offering a really interesting and viable whisky. Let’s see.
But we’ll also be sharing why some of them, despite having plenty of whisky available, have yet to register more than a blip on the whisky chaser’s radar. Some are truly puzzling. I’ll uncork along the way, while we ask what these brands have achieved, especially now that so many of them are no longer ‘new’.
Tonight we’ll consider the successes, the possibilities and the unintelligibles.
I hope to welcome you there!
Timestamps (sorry for the delayed start!)
0:00 - Opening
12:48 - Livestream starts
15:48 - In the glass Wire Works Heritage Chevallier
17:04 - Brief intro to topic
18:24 - What gives me the right?
23:15 - Welcoming in The Lounge
32:42 - The recipe is simple, right?
47:03 - The 'successes' so far
1:00:24 - If there could be only one?
1:10:07 - Some 'possibles' we're still watching
1:22:25 - Lindors Friar John Cor £70
1:42:27 - The 'Unintelligibles' I don't yet get
1:58:40 - Inchdairnie Kinglassie Raw 8yo
2:10:56 - The wave of alternatives
2:31:30 - Quiz at the End
