The rise of independent Scotch whisky bottlers
5th March, 2021 by Tom Bruce-Gardyne
They may be anathema to Scotch producers when demand for single malts is high, but independent bottlers have proven themselves to be a dynamic force for good.
Popular choice: Big Peat
Rupert Patrick has no doubt about the positive contribution independent bottlers bring to Scotch whisky. As CEO of James Eadie, which sells an eclectic mix of single cask bottlings and its Trademark X blend, he says: “From an industry point of view they bring excitement, buzz and noise around interesting single malts that the big guys just can’t create.” Having spent years working for Beam Suntory and Diageo before founding James Eadie in 2014, he knows what he’s talking about. Not that there is much awareness of independent bottlers in the corporate giants. “When I was selling Laphroaig at Beam, it just didn’t feature,” says Patrick, who believes the indies and the big distillers “live side by side very comfortably. Especially now, with the price of single malts so high, independent bottlings are generally not undercutting the big brand owners, and are typically 20%‐30% more expensive, if not double.”