Black Bottle was created in Aberdeen in 1879 by Gordon Graham & Co., a family of tea merchants who applied their blending instincts to whisky. The original dark glass bottle, shaped like a German beer bottle, gave the brand its name. The Grahams' house style relied heavily on Islay malt and the blend became locally famous.
For a long period Black Bottle was marketed with the boast that it contained a component from every working Islay distillery — a claim that was credibly true when Burn Stewart relaunched the blend in 2003 under master blender Ian Macmillan. After Burn Stewart passed to Distell and then to Heineken, the recipe was adjusted and in 2013 the house style shifted; the current 10 Year Old, launched more recently, returns the blend to an emphatically smoky character.
It is a serious dram for the money. The Islay character is unmistakable, but there is enough Speyside fruit and aged grain to keep it balanced. For a peat-inclined drinker unwilling to pay single malt rates, Black Bottle 10 remains one of the better propositions on the shelf.
