Whisky Foundation is a young whisky venture, founded in 2016, bringing unique whisky bottlings to anyone wanting to explore and learn more about these rare expressions. With independent bottlings, the focus is on creativity and experimentation.
Whisky Foundation offers a wide selection of independently bottled whiskies and rums from bottlers such as Sar Obair, The Maltman, Signatory Vintage, Gordon & MacPhail and more. These bottlers release limited-edition expressions, which are often bottled at cask strength, without added colour, and are non-chill filtered to really focus on the whisky’s distinct flavour profile.
Whisky Foundation has offered exclusive expressions from distilleries such as Laphroaig, Macallan, Caol Ila and now Springbank. Springbank is the first whisky to be sold under The Reserve (see below).
What I really like about Whisky Foundation is that all their whiskies are available for anyone to purchase, it is not a member’s club you need to join.
Edward Davidson, the founder of Whisky Foundation, developed an interest in rare and unique whisky expressions during his many travels around the world. He noticed that even if there was a huge interest in whisky worldwide, not many were talking about independent bottlers. He was fascinated by the creativity that goes into each bottle and wanted to share his experiences with others. Through Whisky Foundation he could help more people to access these independent whisky bottlings.
The Reserve – How it works
All the whiskies sold on The Reserve are exclusive to Whisky Foundation. There will be a limited number of each expression. These are rare and outstanding bottlings, making them a great addition to your whisky collection.
All the unique bottlings available at The Reserve will be market driven (think of it as the stock market for whisky): the higher the demand, the higher the price will be. After each sale there will be a price increase, size of which will be based on the time between sales. The shorter the time, the higher the rise will be. If, however, time passes without a sale there will be an automatic price reduction. Basically, if you are lucky enough to be one of the first few, you might get yourself a top-notch whisky for very little money.
Springbank 24 by The Maltman
Springbank 24-year-old is the first whisky available on the whisky stock market.
Springbank Distillery is one of the most traditional distilleries in Scotland. It is one of only two remaining family-run distilleries in Scotland, and the only one in Scotland to carry out every step of the whisky-making process at the distillery. They do everything from malting to labelling and bottling, although the Springbank 24 available on The Reserve is from a boutique bottler, The Maltman. The Maltman is a small family business between father and son, who carefully select each cask to be released under the brand.
Matured in ex-sherry casks, Springbank 24 (47.1% ABV) is rich in flavour. You can experience aromas of fresh coffee and slight notes of brown sugar on the nose. Lovely balance of dried fruits, subtle bitterness of dark chocolate and the spiciness of black pepper. The combination of cinnamon, dried fruit and candied orange makes me think of a fruit cake my mum used to make for Christmas. She used brandy or other spirits to glaze the cake several times. The colour of this dram is very bright yellow, which confirms that no caramel colouring has been used.
The current price for Springbank 24 is around £450. If you are interested in following the changes you can set a price alert here.
To learn more about the available collections or to check what will be released next under The Reserve, head over to Whisky Foundation website and social media.
Disclaimer: This post has been created in collaboration with Whisky Foundation, but, as always, the article is written by me and all opinions are my own.
