The Perfect Collection Part One

Old Ezra 7 Year Old 101 Proof 2003

A 101 proof bourbon produced by Heaven Hill on behalf of Luxco. The brand takes its name from the Ezra Brooks label, historically produced by the Ripy brothers at Hoffman distillery before they sold it to Julian Van Winkle III.

Ezra Brooks from the Hoffman days was notorious for its copycat claims and subsequent court case after being sued by Jack Daniel's for, in their opinion, mimicking their branding. The current iteration of the brand is very well-regarded product however.

Luxco completed construction of their own distillery, Lux Row, in 2018.

This is a 2003 bottling, so at 7 years old will likely contian bourbon distilled by Heaven Hill on rented stills at Brown-Forman and Jim Beam after their distillery burned down in 1996.

Old Grand-Dad 114 Proof Bourbon / Lot No.1

The stories behind America's bourbon brands are some of the greatest in whisky history, and no other traces the narrative of Kentucky distilling as closely as Old Grand-dad. Bourbon historian Chuck Cowdery describes the brand's story as \"one of the richest in bourbon country,\" with distilling dynasties such as the Beam, Dant, Hayden, Taylor, Medley and Wathen families all having a hand in its production over the years.

The original old Grand-dad was Basil Hayden, who's second generation descendents named their primary brand in his honour (he still features on the label today). They built the original Old Grand-dad distillery at Hobbs Station, not far from where Jim Beam's Clermont distillery now sits today. They bought the Hobbs Station distillery its brands in 1899, and developed a successful business out of it. Even with the Prohibition Act looming on the horizon, the Wathen family were shrewd, and re-organised their company as the American Medicinal Spirits Co. This allowed them to exploit a loophole in the Prohibition laws, which had banned the production and sale of alcohol, but permitted the continued bottling of whiskey for medicinal purposes and as a weekly baker's ration. Otto Wathen consolidated much of Kentucky's distilling, filling his warehouses with bonded stock and acquiring brands such as Hill & Hill, Bourbon de Luxe and Old Crow.

The AMS Co were eventually bout over by National Distillers, who went on to become one of the biggest post-repeal distilling companies in the US. The original Old Grand-dad distillery at Hobbs Station never re-opened after Prohibition however, with National Distillers buying what is the more familiar Old Grand-dad distillery in Frankfort in 1933. It and National Distillers were acquired by Jim Beam in 1987, who produced this at Clermont, a return (almost) to its spiritual home. The National Distillers era Old  Grand-dad distillery is now a Beam bottling plant. This was likely filled there in 2002.

Dufftown 1997 Douglas McGibbon 11 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Douglas McGibbon & Co were established in 1947 becoming a subsidiary of independent bottler, Douglas Laing, in 1950. They are perhaps best known for their McGibbon's blend and its golf-themed decanters, but for many years produced this Provenance brand for single malts as well. When Douglas Laing was carved up between brothers Stewart and Fred in 2013, the McGibbon's and Provenance brands were retained by Fred as part of Douglas Laing firm, with other notable labels such as the Old Malt Cask going the other way, to Stewart's newly founded Hunter Laing. Nowadays the Provenance brand is part of the main Douglas Laing portfolio, with Douglas McGibbon the named bottler on Clan Denny releases.

This is a 1997 vintage from Dufftown distillery, bottled in 2001.

Dufftown was built in 1896, becoming part of the Arthur Bell & Sons portfolio in 1933. As with Blair Athol, Dufftown was regularly bottled as a single malt, despite its importance to the Bell's blends. When the company was bought by Guinness in 1985, these bottlings stopped, but a Dufftown distillery bottling returned in 1991 as part of United Distillers’ Flora & Fauna series, later becoming part of The Singleton stable. Prior to the construction of Roseisle, Dufftown was Diageo's largest distillery. 

Old Rhosdhu 5 Year Old 75cl / US Import

First distilled in the 1960s, Rhosdhu was a style of single malt produced at Loch Lomond distillery. The brand was discontinued in the year 2000, but was later revived by the distillery as the name for an unusual single grain that they column distilled from 100% malted barley. 

Known as Old Rhosdhu when officially bottled, this is a 1990s distillery bottling of the 5 year old.

Old Glenn 12 Year Old Highland Single Malt

A mystery single malt from the Highland region, aged for 12 years and specially selected for the Asda supermarket chain by Douglas MacNiven & Co.

Douglas MacNiven were incorporated in 1935 as a subsidiary of the MacDonald & Muir (later the Glenmorangie Company). The specialised in blends, and also produced supermarket single malt brands such as this Old Glenn, and Glen Morven. Perhaps their most famous release (or infamous), was the Oddbin's exclusive 80:20 blended malt, produced when MacDonald & Muir accidentally tipped some younger single malt from Glen Moray into some 21 year old Glenmorangie. When LVMH took over the Glenmorangie Company in 2004, they opted to focus solely on their Ardbeg and Glenmorangie single malt brands, and the Douglas MacNiven branch has been shelved ever since.

The bottle shape here is the same used for Glen Moray at the time, a probable indication of the source of this whisky.

Old MacPhunn Highland Single Malt

A Highland single malt from an undisclosed distillery, bottled for The Creggans Inn in Strachur, Argyll.

It is named Old MacPhunn after a local legend, of a man who when hanged for stealing sheep, suddenly stirred when his wife was trasnporting his body home to be buried. She revived his body by mixing whisky with her own breast milk. Lovely stuff!

Dalvey 10 Year Old Highland Single Malt

A 10 year old single malt from an undisclosed distillery, bottled for the Grants of Dalvey. Previous iterations of this have been produced by Glenfarclas, although this bottle bears the emblem of the Queen's Award for Export Achievement 1992, which was presented to Inver House Distillers...

Dallas Dhu 1974 Signatory Vintage 17 Year Old Miniature 

Signatory Vintage were established in 1988 by Andrew Symington and are one of Scotland's most prolific independent bottlers. Their offices and bottling facility are located next to Edradour distillery, which they have also owned since 2002.

This is a 1974 vintage Dallas Dhu, bottled in 1992.

In its time a key component of the Roderick Dhu blended Scotch, Dallas Dhu is a rarely seen single malt. As with much of the DCL (now Diageo) portfolio, the distillery was deemed surplus to requirements during the market downturn of the 1980s, and closed in 1983. It is now run as a distillery museum by Historic Environment Scotland. Very few official bottlings exist, and it is incredibly sought after when rare independent bottlings appear. 

Director's Special Black Deluxe Whisky 75cl / US Import

A blended whisky produced by Shaw Wallace in India. This is batch 398, bottled in December 2002.

Director's Special was the company's biggest whisky brand, alongside Royal Challenge. The firm are perhaps best known as the distributor for the Sega Mega Drive video game system in the 1990s however.

Dunglass 5 Year Old Miniature

Littlemill was one of Scotland's oldest distilleries in its time, with distilling rumoured to have taken place there as far back as the late 18th century. It has a turbulent history of ownership changes and mothballings, as well as briefly experimenting with producing a lightly and heavily peated single malt as well, called Dunglass and Dumbuck, respectively. Barton Brands, the owners at the time, called a halt to these in 1971 however. The distillery closed again for a time in the 1980s, with its still falling silent for the final time in 1994. The distillery buildings were then lost in a fire in 1996, bringing an end to the its tumultuous story. ​​​​​​​

This is a 5 year old bottling of the briefly produced Dunglass.

Director's Special Whisky 75cl / US Import

A blended whisky produced by Shaw Wallace in India at the Maharashtra Distilleries. This is batch #0235, bottled in July 2001.

Director's Special was the company's biggest whisky brand, alongside Royal Challenge. The firm are perhaps best known as the distributor for the Sega Mega Drive video game system in the 1990s however.