The feeling I get when I walk into The Whiskies of Scotland shop is probably the equivalent joy some other people feel when they walk into a candy shop. The array and selection of whiskies, from single malts, single grains, blends, to its special collection of Duncan Taylor blends, that include off years from established distilleries as well as rare casks from now-defunct distilleries, are as wondorous to my senses and palette as Willy Wonka’s factory can be to a curious sweet tooth.

Right around the corner from The Whiskies of Scotland, Duncan Taylor & Co holds one of the largest privately-held collections of rare scotch whisky casks in the world (most of which exists off site) including casks from the much coveted Caperdronich. Duncan Taylor & Co. has been independently buying up casks from distilleries throughout the country since the 1920s when it started in Glasgow, but moving up to the speyside, the company now under Euan Shand has created an international reputation for bottling the rarest of whiskies.

On top of preparing their own blends and off year batches with some of the clearest tasting whiskies in the world, they now have their own deluxe signature blend of The Black Bull, a secret mix of single grains and single malts, and the 12 year version has been turned into a limited edition Black Bull ice cream.

Getting a tour of the shop and bottling plant by the shop’s Retail Manager, James Cockburn, who I met during the Balvenie tasting a while back, I learned that the clarity of the whisky has actually nothing to do with a whisky’s strength, which is a common belief. Duncan Taylor pride themselves on bottling whisky straight from the cask, sans colouring, and mixed with onsite distilled water.

Still hand bottled the old fashioned way, the quality of the whiskies is astounding when tasted against branded bottles that only appear darker and richer, but as we know with sodas, GMO foods, and other mass produced products, standardized appearances do not always translate in quality and taste.

Getting a sample from a varied selection, including the highly drinkable Cameronbridge single grain 31 year, the legendary smoothness of the Caperdronich 1968, to the peaty spice of a Caoil Ila 25 year single malt, I will do my humble best to continue learning the art of whiskies for as long as I physically can.

Look for an upcoming and potentially blind whisky tasting by The Whiskies of Scotland in the coming months!