Inchgower 2008 9 Year Old - Hepburn's Choice (Langside) (70cl, 46%)
This single cask Inchgower was distilled in 2008 and bottled in 2017 by Langside Distillers.
Inchgower was built in 1871 by Alexander Wilson, using equipment rescued from the disused Tochineal distillery nearby. When his family went bankrupt, the distillery was bought by the town council, who sold it to Arthur Bell in 1937. As you would expect, it has been a key constituent in the Bell's blend ever since. As with Blair Athol and Dufftown, Arthur Bell & Sons took an early interest in bottling its single malt, with official releases appearing from the 1970s. These disappeared when Guinness bought Bell's in 1985 however, and it was not until United Distillers launched the Flora & Fauna brand in 1991 that the former Bell's stable would receive distillery bottlings again. Nowadays important to the Johnnie Walker blend too, other official releases of Inchgower are rare, and it is with independent releases like this where it enjoys the prominence it deserves.
Langside Distillers started out as a blending company in the 1970s, producing Scotch brands such as B&B, Glen Drumm and John Player Special. They moved into the business of bottling independent single malts with their Douglas of Drumlanrig label in the 2000s, before becoming a subsidiary of Hunter Laing in 2013. Nowadays they produce its Distiller’s Art and Hepburn’s Choice bottlings.
*please note wear to label