Collection
Duncan Taylor
Duncan Taylor whisky stands for independently bottled single casks from Scotland, selected by a company with roots going back to 1938. Duncan Taylor began in Glasgow as a whisky cask broker and is now based in Huntly, in Speyside. This collection includes Octave bottlings, a Battlehill Linkwood, a Glentauchers selected for The Hague and an 18 year old Laphroaig.
Read more about this collection
More about [title]
Duncan Taylor buys casks from distilleries, matures them and bottles them cask by cask, often at cask strength and without colouring or chill filtration. The year of distillation is always part of the name, so you know exactly how old the whisky is.
Read more about the Octave cask and the history of Duncan Taylor, or compare with other distilleries and bottlers.
What is a Duncan Taylor Octave?
An Octave is a whisky that, after its first maturation, continues to mature in an octave: a small cask of around 50 litres. Because a relatively large amount of wood is in contact with the whisky, it quickly picks up extra colour, sweetness and spice. Duncan Taylor bottles its Octave releases at cask strength, without chill filtration or colouring. In this collection you will find the Octave Tullibardine 10 YO 2013 and the Octave GlenAllachie 2008.
What is the difference between Battlehill, Octave and Premium at Duncan Taylor?
They are ranges, each with its own role. Battlehill offers single malts and single grains from a variety of distilleries, such as the Linkwood 10 YO 2014, often as an approachable introduction. Octave is all about the extra maturation in a cask of around 50 litres. The Premium Laphroaig 18 YO 2004 belongs to the higher tier: older, rare single casks. So choose by what you are after: discovery, intensity or maturity.
Why is the Duncan Taylor Glentauchers called Den Haag?
Because this cask was selected especially for the Dutch market, Den Haag being the Dutch name for The Hague. The SC Glentauchers Den Haag is a single cask from an ex-bourbon barrel of Glentauchers, a Speyside distillery known mainly as a supplier for blends and only rarely released as a single malt. That makes it a lovely chance to taste the distillery's fruity, gentle style on its own. In our Flavour Compass it sits under Smooth & Fruity.
Why is the Duncan Taylor Laphroaig 18 more expensive than other bottles?
Because of its age, origin and scarcity. It is an 18 year old single cask from 2004 from Laphroaig, the Islay distillery known for medicinal, iodine-like smoke. During eighteen years of maturation part of the whisky evaporates every year, and a single cask yields only a limited number of bottles. Old, independently bottled Laphroaig is also hard to find, which makes this bottle special for lovers of smoke.
Who is Duncan Taylor?
Duncan Taylor began in 1938 in Glasgow as a whisky cask broker. Bottling came later, through a partnership with the American collector Abe Rosenberg, whose casks were stored in Scottish distilleries. Since 2002 Euan Shand has run the company, which is now based in Huntly in Speyside. Since 2009 the blended whisky brand Black Bull has also belonged to Duncan Taylor; you can read more about it in this article.