The Single Cask: Single Cask Bottler Turns Whisky Flavour On Its Head

To celebrate the whisky month of May, Fife-based independent whisky bottler, The Single Cask, launches an innovative new method that solves one of scotch whisky’s biggest dilemmas – how to categorise whisky flavour.

Scottish Whisky bottler The Single Cask, takes on the challenge of demystifying whisky flavour as they relaunch their brand. By using five mood categories, whisky fans can quickly navigate to whichever whiskies they are in the mood for.

With every one of the 3000 casks in The Single Cask’s Glenrothes warehouse easily fitting within one of the five mood categories, the independent bottler has also announced a brand-new release of whiskies to celebrate the whisky month of May.

Using the categories: Cheerful, Playful, Bold, Curious and Easy-going, flavour fans can get a feel for the whisky’s character without feeling bewildered by the label information and tasting notes. The development displays the depth of The Single Cask’s commitment to being the ultimate champions of single cask whisky.

Among their first release of new whiskies, The Single Cask are offering limited edition bottlings from iconic Scottish distilleries such as Bunnahabhain, Glen Spey, and a special Feis Ile cask of Bruichladdich to celebrate the famed whisky festival on Islay at the end of May.

Scotch whisky has arguably the most wide-ranging and complex range of flavours of any drink. To classify whisky by flavour is a challenging task that results in many different categories. So many that new whisky fans can feel confused, overwhelmed, and mystified.

The Single Cask’s fresh perspective builds on the natural inclination to describe whisky in terms of its character and personality. Much like having a flavour compass, whisky lovers use five categories to direct to whichever whiskies they are in the mood for. It also helps whisky drinkers to understand that, for example, not all peated whiskies are bold and overpowering - some can be very mellow and easy-going.

Leveraging their decades of experience in the scotch whisky industry, Brand Marketing Manager, Helen Stewart, and Whisky Sensory Expert, Kami Newton, developed the five mood method to classify every whisky style, character, and personality in the simplest way.

With so many unique casks to manage and evaluate, The Single Cask has assembled an expert panel of sensory whisky assessors. Titled the Taste Masters, this sensory panel are tasked with ensuring only the most outstanding casks are selected for bottling. Alongside the selection process, they are also responsible for designating each whisky to the most appropriate mood category.

The first category of whiskies are the Cheerful types; well-mannered, joyful, effortless, and dependable crowd-pleasers that suit any occasion. Playful whiskies are the ones that bounce around your nose and mouth, full of life, vigour, enthusiasm and excitement.

The Bold category is for seekers of big, powerful, and strong whiskies - with assertive, rich and deep characters. The Curious whiskies are those unusual characters that break the rules of whisky flavour. They represent the surprising, uncommon, oddball whiskies that are the hidden treasure for die-hard fans.

The final category are those Easy-going, laid back, and mellow drams for when you’re in the mood to simply unwind and relax.

The Single Cask celebrates whisky in its purest form; with each single cask of whisky only yielding just a few hundred bottles that will never again be repeated. Their many years of assessing single casks of whisky brings invaluable knowledge about whisky flavour. This experience inspired their brand-new approach by shining a light on the beauty and brilliance of single cask whisky.

Helen Stewart, Brand Marketing Manager at The Single Cask, said: “We feel this brand-new way to explore our single cask whiskies will open whisky lover’s eyes to a new world of experiences. We want to be the brand who helps people to easily discover their perfect dram, and enjoy that ultimate, unique single cask whisky experience.”

“At The Single Cask, we believe the overall ‘charisma’ of a dram is more important than its individual flavours, and when we picture whiskies as personalities, they become easy to relate to. We can instantly identify with the mood of the whisky. That ability to move and connect people, to make us feel alive in ways unimaginable and open our minds to new experiences.”

Kami Newton, Whisky Sensory Expert, explains: “One of the biggest challenges with flavour is that it’s a different experience from one person to the next. For example, to some people coriander tastes like a delicious, fragrant herb. But others have a genetic variation that makes coriander taste like disgusting soap. Add to this flavours that are culturally specific and the challenge of pigeonholing whisky by flavour becomes clear. The five mood method takes a whole new approach that is less confusing and creates an emotional connection with whisky drinkers.” The Single Cask pride themselves on bottling only the most outstanding, characterful, and distinctive single casks of whisky. The company values the distinct personality and cherishes the individuality of every single cask - celebrating whiskies that start conversations through their irresistible attraction: https://www.thesinglecask.co.uk/

More to explore:
The Single Cask Whisky Moods | First Feelings of Summer Collection | 2024 Official Feis Ile Bottling