“A family run business founded in 2008, Abbey Whisky Online Whisky Shop specialises in exclusive, rare and old whiskies that have been blessed to us by the many great distilleries from around Scotland.

Abbey prides itself on providing its customers with the highest level of customer service, striking the perfect balance of personal touch and professionalism.  Abbey Whisky have managed to convey this through the social media platforms, being informative, helpful and engaging, they are winning a loyal fan base.

Customer experience is of the upmost importance to Abbey and this is reflected in the exceptional customer service received at every stage of the customer journey, beginning at the enquiry stage, through secure transaction to the safe, fully trackable and efficient delivery of goods. This service is demonstrated in the excellent customer reviews posted by customers on the independent review site Trust Pilot.

Abbey are passionate about customer service, and have taken great care in designing the website and have thought of the customer and their experience throughout every stage.  They even offer a freephone number for customers to get in touch and they pride themselves in responding to whisky enquiries within a very short time frame.

Not only can customers filter via many options, the fantastic Birthday & Celebration page is the perfect way to find a gift for the whisky lover in your life.  Customer interaction and discussion is encouraged via the on-site whisky blog and customers can also give their opinions on the products that we stock via our customer reviews section found under every malt whisky that we stock.

Abbey have decided to focus exclusively on rare, collectable and old whisky which is exciting for the whisky connoisseur, they also offer a broad selection of international whisky (whiskey) from such countries as India, Sweden, America, England & South Africa.”

> As a whisky retailer, why did you decide to bottle your own spirits ?

In years gone by, some may have viewed Independent whisky as slightly inferior to OB, we believe this has certainly changed in recent years, with some excellent Independent bottlers, such as Compass Box, Carn Mor, Gordon & MacPhail (to name just a few) leading the way and bottling a very high standard of whisky. By bottling our own whisky, we hoped that we could help enhance this reputation as we only bottle whisky that we believe to be excellent, so when the opportunity becomes available and we believe it’s truly great, we jump at the chance to put our name to the bottle. Each release that we’ve launched to date, has been very well received by whisky writers and bloggers worldwide, with many of the drams picking up accolades. From a company point of view it’s a good way of enhancing brand awareness but more importantly, building reputation and trust with your customers that if we bottle something, it’s going to be good! I believe we have done that with the releases so far and that’s extremely important to us.

> What are the criteria you base your choice on when chosing a specific distillery/cask ?

When we launched the Rare Casks series in 2012, the ethos was to introduce and explore drams that excite and stimulate discussion. Quality was first and foremost on our minds so we’ve deliberately taken our time and only bottled whisky in which we felt was the best we could source, enhanced the series and also fit in with the ethos of the range. The releases in the Rare Casks, such as Caperdonich, Glencadam, Ben Nevis are not distilleries that many have had too much experience with. Sometimes these distilleries have been shadowed by the larger, more popular distilleries. It’s very rewarding when customers give feedback that it was there first time tasting whisky from such distilleries and they plan to explore this area more…

> What are your plans for the future ? Any upcoming project ?

Anon. Batch 1 was the fifth bottling in the Rare Casks, since the series was launched in 2012. In addition, over this period we’ve now bottled 3 exclusives with top distilleries such as GlenDronach and Kilchoman. We like to keep things secret until concrete plans are in place, but we’re always on the lookout for exceptional casks, so if we sample a dram later today that’s mind blowing… watch this space!

 

 

Anon is a 13 Years Old Single Malt bottled at 51.5% ABV

 

Nose: I’m entering an adult version of Hansel & Gretel’s candy village : Notes of toffee, candy apples, custard cream, crumble & madeleine are ruling the historical centre whereas the suburban area is made of pleasant ripe fruits, cinnamon, honey and oak hints. A dramming fairy tale!

Palate: Strong oak and spiced notes and an oily texture lead the way to mellow honey. The kind of dram that would typically suit Winnie The Pooh (if only he was a bit more bad-ass!). A powerful dram – still not too strong according to its higher-than-normal alcoholic content. I first thought I would need to add a dash of water to smooth it up (such a pussy…) but it turned out perfectly enjoyable neat!

Finish: Medium-lenght, smooth & spiced : a gourmet aftertaste!