THE WHISKY TRAIL MANIFESTO

A WONDERFUL WORLD OF WHISKY

“At Elixir, we love whisky, whiskey – however you want to spell it. We certainly love single malt Scotch (after all, we operate two distilleries, one in Speyside and one on Islay, as well as bottling many other single malts from across the country). But the whisky world has changed. Many countries, close to or very far from Scotland, are producing single malts to a very high level. Meanwhile, there are other styles of whisky – ryes, blends, grain whisky and more – that have wonderful character and complexity.”

Sukhinder Singh

Your Navigator

A wonderful world of whisky

Many whisky drinkers are seeking unusual and new liquids to experience. That’s what the Elixir Whisky Trail explores... lesser known but outstanding whisky from around the world.

Our travels take us to some fantastic places - we're looking for new things, for interesting distilleries and inspired people who are producing good liquid. Now, it doesn’t necessarily follow that every novelty is an undiscovered gem – you have to be selective. And that critical selectivity is an important feature of The Whisky Trail.

At Elixir, we have a reputation for championing underrated distilleries over ones which have built their reputation through marketing. But we will not bottle any old whisky just because it comes from a “cult” distillery. The liquid must match up to or exceed its distillery’s cult status.

It starts with the liquid

So, actually, we work backwards – starting with the liquid. I am part of a global community of people who are passionate about whisky, who are always recommending things to each other... have you tried this; have you tried that?

And, when I taste something that stands out, either I or a trusted member of my team goes to the distillery to discover more... and, always, we find there’s often a great story behind amazing liquid.

As travellers, we’re looking for authentic, local experiences. So, what we’re bottling needs to have a sense of place – that could be in the choice of raw material, in an approach to fermentation or distillation, or in the initial maturation. We are not interested in a distillery in an unusual location if it simply apes what is done in, for example, Speyside.

Nature and nurture

At Elixir, I have gathered a fantastic team of people with unbeatable expertise in all aspects of bringing whisky to the bottle – with experience in distilling, maturation, blending etc – so, for The Elixir Whisky Trail, it’s not necessarily a case of simply identifying a good distillery and bottling something from there.

We go to the distillery to select the best casks we can find, the ones that most clearly express the character, quality and sense of place.

Often then, we will nurture the spirit further, using our combined decades of judgement to select the right wood and the ideal time to let a whisky evolve to be the best it can be. Not too wood-influenced, not masking with a finish, but allowing it to be the best expression of the distillery character that first got us excited.