Scotland – Day 5: Digging

Each year in Scotland there are a number of appointments with bottlers and producers that we know are going to be successful – Signatory, Sovereign, Glendronach, Glenfarclas, etc. We're almost always going to find something good in those warehouses. However, there are always some wild cards – places that may or may not turn up fruitful. We also make sure to look up new contacts, seek out new sources, and schedule a few long-shots just to make sure we've left no stone unturned. Today was a day spent driving. We drove north to south, east to west, and met with some new faces in search of new labels.

But times are tough and pickin's are slim. We eventually ended up in the new warehouse of David Stirk – our buddy from the Exclusive Malts who we introduced to America a few years back. The Creative Whisky Company used to store all its casks just south of Glasgow, but David's got a new facility further southeast, near Thornhill where he lives. He had a few possibilities for K&L, so we took some samples and continued our way back to Edinburgh.

But not before hitting up the local pub. The great thing about going out for a dram in Scotland is the selection. 

We're off to Ian McCleod tomorrow morning where we'll taste new Chieftain's samples for the first time in more than a year. They've run low on availability, but they think there might be some new options on the table this time around. We'll hit a few more stops before heading off to Pitlochry and resting up for what should be an epic day with Des in the Signatory warehouses.

-David Driscoll