An Islay single malt from an undisclosed distillery (rumoured Lagavulin).

Nobody knows if this is really Lagavulin, what’s rather sure is that the bottlers, of Coopers Choice fame, do hold or did hold contracts with Lagavulin (or White Horse, or Diageo's predecessors) and so ‘could’ have bottled Lagavulin under another name. They might have switched to Caol Ila, but perhaps not in 2005, which was rather one or two years before the gold rush. This ought to be Lagavulin, none other that would taste like 45% vol. when bottled at 40% vol. and it’s got Lagavulin's very peculiar peaty sweetness and the touches of tar and ‘good’ rubber that do hint at the star distillery.

The Vintage Malt Whisky Company is a family-owned firm in Glasgow, founded in 1992 by Brian Crook. In addition to their Cooper's Choice series, they also bottle number of their own single malt brands, such as this Finlaggan (an Islay) and Tantallan (a Highland), using whisky sourced from unspecified distilleries.