‘A bottle with a soul’ words used by Ashok C (a famous master distiller) describing an old bottle of Antiquary Blended Whisky. Shared by a generous gentleman called Krishna Nukala  that some of you folks may recognise.

Back in time Amrut/ Jagdale were the distributors of Tomatin which is the malt used in this blend. The brand was established in 1888 by J & W Hardie and was named after a novel by Sir Walter Scott. 

History and the story is something that has drew me towards Whisky and Scotch in particular. The Waverley Novels are a series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). They were widely read novels in Europe and Antiquary was the third of the series. Said to be the favourite of the author this novel centres on the character of an antiquary: an amateur historian, archaeologist and collector of items of dubious antiquity. 

This was bottled in the 1960s and has a delightfully illustrated label. Observe the words on the label ‘At last I have found it!’ The package and the label epitomizes elegance and class. What a find and what a story. Privileged to hold such a bottle and taste it.

Name : The Antiquary – Deluxe Old Scotch whisky

Period – 1960’s

Abv 43%

Italian Import

The Tomatin distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in the village of Tomatin. Its whisky is classified as being from the Highland region, as it is 25 minutes south of Inverness. Around eighty percent of Tomatin’s whisky goes into blended whisky, including its own brands of Antiquary and Talisman. Now I’ll stop before I bore you with my fascination of the story almost overtaking the whisky itself

Nose: Perfumy, fragrant and light. Medows of flowers and vegetation, there is a slight hint of earthiness, and slightly metholated syrup. Can just nose this for an hour.

Mouth: Oh what joy! Starts off with just a hint of bitterness before blossoming into wet wood and super enjoyable bitters. Very light on the palate but the 43% in this Whisky is perfect, making its presence