2013 The Ultimate Edradour 8 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) - Cask #474

Cask #474 yielded 603 bottles from a first-fill sherry butt at 60.2% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.

Since 1994 The Ultimate Spirits Company has been bottling gems from the likes of Port Ellen, Springbank, Ardbeg and Bowmore. The company's primary objective remains the seeking out of interesting (and foremost) very tasty casks, some old, some younger but always worth the spend. Founded in 1921 as tobacco merchants and currently in the capable hands of Maurice van Wees, who started working in the whisky business in 1987, he follows in the footsteps of his father, Han van Wees - the first man to import Single Malt into the Netherlands in the 1960s (before then, only blends were available). It has been quipped that Han ‘taught the Netherlands how to drink whisky’. He was appointed with the Master of the Quaich in 2018.

Nowadays, a key characteristic Van Wees looks for when reviewing casks is that the wood influence should not be overpowering. "For example", explains Maurice "we have bottled many casks of Rosebank from straight bourbon barrels, the vanilla only complemented the Rosebank character. Others like our Longmorn bottlings from oloroso sherry butt stood out for their complexity and dark sherry influences... We have bottled over a thousand casks now and all of them are my babies. Bottled for enjoying life and bringing pleasure to people all over the globe." When asked if he has any personal favourites, Van Wees adds, "I believe every distillery can make great whisky as long as it is matured in a good cask. Too many bottlers rely on a distillery name to raise interest but we believe only a good cask can bring you good single malt which in it’s turn will make people notice it. Lately I was personally amazed again by the taste of one of our Glen Spey bottlings. Around the same time I was offered a cask of Ardbeg which I declined because the spirit was not good enough. So it differs every time but bottom line is that an independent bottling should bring you that bit extra."