Inchgower was built in 1871 by Alexander Wilson, using equipment rescued from the disused Tochineal distillery nearby. When his family went bankrupt, the distillery was bought by the town council, who sold it to Arthur Bell in 1937. As you would expect, it has been a key constituent in the Bell’s blend ever since. As with Blair Athol and Dufftown, Arthur Bell & Sons took an early interest in bottling its single malt, with official releases appearing from the 1970s. These disappeared when Guinness bought Bell’s in 1985 however, and it was not until United Distillers launched the Flora & Fauna brand in 1991 that the former Bell’s stable would receive distillery bottlings again. Nowadays important to the Johnnie Walker blend too, other official releases of Inchgower are rare, and it is with independent releases like this where it enjoys the prominence it deserves.

Matured in a refill hogshead before being bottled by North Star Spirits in June 2019 as part of their Cask Series #008.  One of 321 bottles.

North Star Spirits was founder in Glasgow in 2016 by Iain Croucher. They have since developed a strong reputation for bottling fantastic single cask and small batch whiskies, as well as the much-lauded Vega and Spica blends.