The Bastard No. 1 – 12YO

The Bastard No. 1 2009 – 2022

The Bastard no. 1 is our first pick in a selection of premium blends we’re planning to release over the next decade or so.

Looked down on by some as ‘impure’, blends can have exceptional qualities, especially when blended at birth.

This elegant expression is one of those phenomenal and noteworthy blends. The first whiff immediately reveals a combination of sweet, easygoing, and malty distillates became one. Punchy, but not overwhelming. Overloaded with butterscotch, caramel, and milk chocolate. Hints of nutmeg and wood spices. Even a little leather and nail polish can be discovered deep down. This feels way older than it might be. Red fruits, brambles, and the remnants of cinnamon sticks. And most certainly: chewy toffee, sticky chewy toffee, the kind that latches your jaws shut.

The finish is long lasting, a beautifully balanced blend, one you don’t come across often. But if you do – spoil yourself and nurture it! This is stunning stuff and easily competes with the best single malts out there. It might be ‘impure’ to some, it’s a bastard of a dram to us!