While most people are familiar with Berry Bros & Rudd as a wine merchant, it’s perhaps less well known that they have also played an important role in the world of independent spirits bottling – especially Scotch Whisky and indeed Berry Bros & Rudd have a strong claim to be the oldest bottler still in existence.

Founded in 1698 at No.3 St. James’s St, the business has been bottling spirits since the 18th century, most likely beginning with Cognac and other brandies.   While Berry Bros also offered Blended Whisky in the early 19th centuary, they were one of the first merchants to also offer non-proprietary bottlings of single malt...  If you were to walk into No.3 St James’s in 1909 you would have been presented with a price list featuring 1885 Talisker, then a triple distilled malt, or 1897 Macallan, the latter available by the gallon for 28 shillings!  

Berry Bros have continued to bottle whisky, rum and cognac ever since, and now export globally under the Berrys Own Selection label.  Berry’s remain scrupulous in their cask selection and have been awarded the accolade of Independent Bottler of the Year twice."

While Diageo only appeared in 1997, when Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merged, its history stretches back to the early days of modern whisky.

Among the many mergers and acquisitions in the company's timeline, you can find the biggest names in whisky: The Distillers Company, United Distillers and Vintners, and, of course, John Walker and Sons. There are very few whisky companies who have not been touched by Diageo's forbears over the years, and when it comes to old and rare whisky, few have as much experience or stock as they do.

At the show, we are delighted to welcome Diageo's brand ambassadors, who will be cracking open incredible bottles of whisky from days gone by. From old Islay to legendary Speysiders and old-school blends, they'll have something for everyone. Pop by to try great drams and learn more about the history of whisky with Scotland's largest producer.

Elixir Distillers core brands are Port Askaig, Elements of Islay, Single Malts of Scotland and Black Tot. 

Port Askaig is a range of Islay single malt whiskies that embodies the unique spirit of Islay and its people. There is no distillery in the town of Port Askaig, which gives them the opportunity to select the finest casks from distilleries around Islay and enables you to make your own journey of discovery. Port Askaig whiskies are always elegant and characterful, and epitomise the essence of Islay. 

Elements of Islay is a range of iconic, small-batch, independently bottled whiskies. The range celebrates the diversity of whiskies that make Islay special, with a focus on the medicinal, smoky, elemental character of the island's whiskies. To maintain their personality, they are not chill-filtered and no colouring is added. 

Seeking out the finest single casks of Scotch whisky has always been at the heart of the team's philosophy. Since 2005, these have been released as The Single Malts of Scotland, a range of superb vintage single malt Scotch whiskies selected for their individual quality and character.

The distillery was founded in 1826, however was almost completely destroyed by fire 10 years later. It was rebuilt and has passed through a succession of owners, including the Grant family, Teacher’s and Pernod Ricard. In 2008, Glendronach was bought by The Benriach Company, the second distillery in its portfolio.

The company's expertise was quickly put to use and thousands of pounds of sherry casks were purchased to finish and further mature the distillery's stocks. This led to a revamped sherry-focused range which has been attracting fans every since.

Co-founders Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day first met in 2013 and formed R&B Distillers with the common goal of building Scotland’s leading artisanal distiller. Focusing on local production, provenance, quality and doing things differently. By 2015, they had identified the Isle of Raasay as providing the ingredients for the perfect dram, and revitalising the Isle of Raasay’s nineteenth-century Borodale House into a state-of-the-art distillery, visitor centre, and luxury accommodation was granted in 2016.

Starting with a blank sheet of paper, they set about designing a distillery to create exceptional whisky that develops elegance, complexity, and depth early on in the maturation process that encapsulates Raasay’s style, character and impressive geological variety.

Inspiration for the Isle of Raasay Single Malt came from some older styles of Hebridean single malts. Styles that had been lost through the ages and are not as prevalent anymore. This became the inspiration for the Isle of Raasay Distillery signature flavour profile: a lightly peated whisky, balanced with rich dark fruit flavours.

Since its establishment in 2017, the Isle of Raasay Distillery has brought job opportunities to the island, worked closely with other local businesses and become embedded in the island’s tight-knit community. Part of the distillery’s ethos is to produce, mature, bottle and market every drop of spirit directly from the island. This seeks to maximise the influence of the island on the spirit, and the distillery on the island. To quote the inimitable Whisky Writer Dave Broom at our distillery opening: we are not just making alcohol, we are making spirit.

The distillery now employs more than 25 people on the island; at least one of the employees is about to become a new parent too! An early indicator of creating inter-generational values; making sure this special island of 161 people continues to thrive.

Founded in 2016, JJ Corry are an old-fashioned company who practise what is now a lost art in the world of Irish whiskey – bonding.

Once the regular way that whisky was matured and bottled, bonders bought casks from distillers and aged them in bonded warehouses, before vatting and bottling them under their own labels. JJ Corry is reviving this lost tradition, walking the path trodden by grocers and merchants of the past to create its own great whiskies.

Made in Lynchburg, Tennessee, Jack Daniel’s was founded in 1875. Old No.7 is the world’s best-selling American whiskey and the cult brand has a legion of fans.

Sinatra’s love of Jack Daniel’s was recently acknowledged by the distillery with the release of Sinatra Select, made using special ‘Sinatra barrels’.

Ironically, given it is home to one of the most famous whiskeys on the planet, Lynchburg is a dry county, and has been since the Prohibition era, which means that it is illegal to sell alcohol in any shop or restaurant within the town.

Sailor’s Home is an innovative, contemporary and premium Irish Whiskey brand from Limerick which consists of five expressions, linked by the desire to explore the boundaries of flavour. Crafted under the watchful eye of renowned Master Whiskey Maker Dr Jack Ó’Sé; Sailor’s Home is made in Ireland but shaped by the world, with its distinct flavours created using an adventurous approach to blending, ageing and finishing.

Inspired by the original Sailor’s Home built in 1856, to reward seafarers on their journeys with the experience of home away from home, Sailor’s Home seeks to take drinkers on a new journey, with flavours that push the boundaries of what is expected of a premium Irish Whiskey.

Sailor’s Home Irish Whiskey is inspired by the rugged and untamed Wild Atlantic Way on the Western coast of Ireland and the original Sailor’s Home built in 1856 as a welcoming shelter for the international community of seafarers travelling through the port of Limerick. Expressing our passion to explore and create new and delicious whiskey possibilities, Sailor’s Home is about the welcome, character, place, people and stories of Limerick. It’s about the West Coast of Ireland and our unique relationship with the sea. It’s about all those with the need to explore who respect tradition and paths well-travelled, whilst forging a new and innovative approach to Irish Whiskey that places taste above all.

The SEVEN SEALS Distillery AG is a small company in the innovative production and marketing of spirits! The main focus of the company is on whisky production.

Headquartered in Stans (NW) in Switzerland, the company is committed to innovation in spirits production and outstanding quality.

We are a whisky producer with a team that works with innovation, passion, and integrity towards a common goal: to offer our customers and consumer a unique product and innovation in spirits production!

We are committed to simplifying the production of whisky in particular, shortening the time of production without sacrificing quality, aroma, and character, improving production ecologically and economically, and thus delighting and surprising our customers all over the world.

We produce our own whisky called SEVEN SEALS.

We develop, supervise and support whisky producers and whisky brands in the production of their products, focusing on speed, quality, and aroma!

Seven Seals sets new limits especially in "finishing"! "Time doesn't matter" - time is by far not the main aspect of our finishing. "Taste matters" - the decisive factor is taste.

Our People
The people of Slane have never done things by half. We break ground. We blaze trails. On this ancient land, a new religion was ignited. It’s where music was brought to the masses. And now it’s where Irish whiskey is perfected. Who would have thought you could turn a crumbling 250-year-old stable into
one of Ireland’s most pioneering distilleries? We did. And then, well, we made it happen. And our whiskey? Created with the barrel-rising art and whiskey-making expertise of the Brown Family and born on the historic grounds of the Conyngham Family, our award-winning blend brings the legacies of two historic families together for generations to come.

Our Place
Slane Irish Whiskey was born in the legendary Boyne Valley. There could be no better setting in which to discover the nature of whiskey. Our rural setting is a sprawling tapestry of fertile land, wild countryside, and native woodlands surrounding the mythical River Boyne, the water source for our distillery.

Our Commitment to Sustainability.
Our ambition at Slane Distillery is to become a zero-waste facility. We actively promote biodiversity protection and enhancement and we engage, work with, and support our local community. We have embedded energy recovery and reduced water consumption and the capacity for onsite energy generation into our state-of-the-art distillery design while considering how we interact with and support our surrounding natural environment and the local community in which we live and work.

Our Music Heritage.
Slane Castle has been rockin’ out since 1981 and the Conyngham Family have welcomed many famous faces to their iconic home over the centuries. In addition to the world-renowned Slane Castle concerts that welcomed over a million music fans to the grounds, a chart-topping album was recorded in the castle.

Always Single Malt focused – whether championed in blends or pure Single Malt expressions. Always enriching the flavour, lengthening the depth, refining the smoothness. After all, everything comes back to the whiskey. It’s our pride and our focus. Every one a true original, triple distilled to leave a lasting impression.

A tip of the hat to Ireland’s Golden Era of Irish Whiskey. Learning from the past to create the future. Rediscovering Irish Single Malts. Single Malt – that’s our heart.

From the moment The Oxford Artisan Distillery was a twinkle in our eye, we knew our distillery would be different. Not different for different’s sake, but different to be better; to be more sustainable, more thoughtful, more considerate of the world around us.

Working with our organic and regenerative farming partners, mostly within 50 miles of our distillery in Oxford, this is sustainable artisan production at its best; regenerating the land, supporting biodiversity and managing every stage from seed to still and into the bottle, with the use of absolutely no pesticides, fungicides or herbicides.

At our distillery’s home, a carefully restored, Grade II listed, 18th century threshing barn, our whiskies are produced from our unique heritage grains in our Steampunk-esque still, Nautilus. Nautilus was painstakingly built from scratch to an original design by South Devon Railway Engineering, a team of steam engine craftsmen and some of the last great industrial coppersmiths in England – the team rebuilt the boiler of no less than the Flying Scotsman.

The production of rye whisky has been part of The Oxford Artisan Distillery’s core plan from day one, with the first casks laid down more than 3 years ago, a few months after the distillery opened in July, 2017. The first three batches of Oxford Rye Whisky launched this year to wide acclaim, with Oxford Rye Whisky Batch #4 to follow in September 2021 and further expressions in the coming months.

Togouchi is a high-end & artisanal Japanese whisky brand produced by Sakurao Brewery & Distillery, located in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima prefecture.

The company was founded in 1918 and has been producing sake and liquors for over 100 years. It started making whisky in 1990 when they created Togouchi. In 2018, the distillery expanded its facilities to meet bigger production needs with the growth of the Japanese whiskies to a wider global market.

WhistlePig Farm sits on the edge of Shoreham, Vermont, and has been the base of operations of the company since it's 2008 founding. Starting with rye whiskey carefully sourced from Canada and later the USA, and now continuing with its own spirit produced on the farm, WhistlePig have made a name for bottling some incredible whiskeys.

Led by master distiller Dave Pickerell and enthusiastic entrepreneur Raj Bhakta, WhistlePig has burst out of its Vermont home, with whiskey appearing on shelves around the world, picking up fans wherever it lands.