Like so many hobbies defined by passion and connoisseurship, whisky collecting is a journey—usually one that leads a person to seek out ever more pure and unique experiences. This eventually leads to the single cask whisky—no blending, just time and chance to create something confined only to this one cask. And what if one were to purchase the entire cask? Then, this unique experience becomes entirely your own. This is what happened for one Malaysian whisky enthusiast, who last year purchased cask number 0911 from the Ardbeg distillery of Islay, Scotland.
Said buyer is a Malaysian in his early 40s who is in the F&B business (who wishes to keep his identity private). His whisky journey has spanned the past 15 years or so, and has followed a fairly typical graduation—starting with well-known blended whiskies, before discovering the varied styles and personalities of single malts. “I’m more of a curious and adventurous person, so I always wanted to try and explore,” he says. He recalls that, in the early 2010s, the selection of single malts was quite limited, mostly to well-known Speyside distilleries. The subsequent Japanese explosion and increased interest in whisky did, however, lead to the more widespread availability of the more niche Scottish names. “That’s when you could actually start to explore. Slowly, as I went along and got to hang out with some of these more learned whisky guys, that’s when you find out about the single casks, the independent bottlers.
“That’s the thing with whisky—the range is crazy,” he adds. “You can take [any spirit] and they go into different types of casks, different sizes, different ages, first fill, second fill—the result comes out to be so magnificent.”
A Change From The Usual
Cask 0911 caught his eye not because of the auspicious number—“I’m not a Porsche owner,” he points out wryly—but because of the tasting notes. Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s legendary head of distilling and whisky creation, had observed an herbaceous and peppery note to the cask, something very different to Ardbeg’s usual direction. Tasting notes alone are not something that a whisky connoisseur wants to exclusively rely on—especially not when it comes to a cask that would produce about 179 bottles—but he had a gut feeling about this one that made it stand out amongst the selection of casks on offer. “They won’t release a cask that is not good enough, that’s for sure,” he had reasoned. “It’s just like—among all the A-list casks, which one do I want?” Cask number 0911 is a refill bourbon cask, aged for 28 years at the time of bottling, with its liquid at 41.5 per cent ABV. The tasting notes also highlight orchard fruit flavours and subtle, sweet smoke.
The transaction was completed in spring of 2023, to the tune of RM3.5 to 4 million. It was bottled later that year and arrived in Malaysia in December. “The moment it got to my office, I popped one. It was actually very interesting. I felt that the profile is supreme,” he says. “This really comes in very elegantly. Lots of finesse—you don’t even feel the burn, it just slowly trickles down. And then the profile of the taste comes out as you actually consume it.” He has observed that the notes are still very present in the glass even after it has been left out for half an hour, something he has not found in other whiskies.
“It’s very, very, very interesting, because you’d expect it to be peaty,” he continues. “But this one came to the point where it has become very rounded and very approachable. If I give you a blind taste, you won’t even be able to guess that this is an Ardbeg.”
“Something must have been done right in the 80s and 90s,” he says. “That kind of profile…there’s a lot of culture, a lot of skill to it, and you cannot replicate or fast track it. It’s something that just had to be there.”
The Spirit Of Stewardship
So, what does one do with 179 bottles of single cask whisky? A few will be gifted to friends and family, and sold to fellow collectors. “I’m not a hoarder. I also want to drink other things, right?” he says. Ardbeg is part of the LVMH group, represented locally by Moët Hennessy Diageo Malaysia, which facilitated the cask purchase. “I work closely with them. They probably will do some events and dinners. It’s more like networking, more like fun,” he adds. He is also open to the idea of selling a few to other interested parties—preferably those who share his passion for unique whiskies. “I don’t mind keeping 50 or 100 bottles. Let’s see how it goes,” he says. “These bottles are, I would say, investment grade. A 1990s bottle—where are you going to find it later?”
There are not many places to go after cask ownership—except, perhaps, a sideways manoeuvre to other casks. “This access to what I would call very, very serious whisky collecting—I’ve just started. Let’s see what else there is. They told me they have Glenmorangie casks as well,” he says. “I’m not in a rush. I have to think of logistics, right? I can’t be having so many bottles just lying around somewhere!”
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Photography: All Is Amazing
