Scotland, Northern Highlands. Distillery operational. Owner: Whyte & Mackay

It was with quite a bang that Dalmore joined the ranks of collectible whiskies, when the group's master blender Richard Paterson presented the Constellation range in 2014. This interstellar symphony of 43 bottlings (1964 - 1992) was the culmination of several decades spent in the depths of warehouses sculpting a distillate with a complex and versatile character in the ex-sherry casks that have become the trademark of the Dalmore Single Malt. Selected from the Gonzeles Byass bodega, these Oloroso, Mathusalem (The Dalmore 32 Year Old 1974 Cask #504, 52%) and Amoroso (The Dalmore 1981 Amoroso Sherry Finesse) barrels offer such aromatic density and range that the profile of The Dalmore has become indistinguishable from the sherries produced at the bodega which, along with Richard Paterson, has co-designed the Dalmore style.

A Dalmore 11 year old distilled in 1999 and bottled in 2011 by Douglas McGibbon for the Provenance collection. Douglas McGibbon & Co. is a family business founded in 1947 by the husband of Douglas McGibbon’’s granddaughter, a Scotsman from Islay who moved to Glasgow in the 1890s. It became a subsidiary of Douglas Laing in 1950. In addition to its eponymous blend, Douglas McGibbon was for a long time also responsible for the Provenance range. When Douglas Laing’’s two sons Stewart and Fred split in 2013, however, everything was redistributed. The Provenance range went to Douglas Laing, now managed by Fred Laing, and other ranges like the Old Malt Casks went to Hunter Laing, the independent bottler founded by Stewart Laing. Douglas McGibbon now bottles the Clan Denny range.