Fragrant Drops

That’s a wrap on the Whisky Fringe. We had an absolute blast and we are so very grateful to all of the wonderful folks that came by and chatted to us and tasted our whisky. So much kindness and generosity of spirit. What an amazing event! Hats off to all of the Royal Mile crew who worked so hard and seamlessly.

Possibly our favourite lads that came by… brought their own cheese to pair with all the drams they had. Who are these geniuses and can we join the cheese club?

Meghan and George are ready and waiting to pour delicious drams for all you lucky Whisky Fringe attendees. 5/6 of our new releases pouring so head straight to Fragrant Drops in the marquee downstairs!

🚨 New release alert 🚨 6/6

Last but by no means least is our Caol Ila that has had a big ole 3 year finish in a fresh Margaux barrique. My my my this is one big juicy!
Raspberry sings on the nose with tree sap, cherry cola and pine cones.
It’s Caol Ila, so you can expect BBQ meat on the palate along with high cocoa content dark chocolate, amaretto and gooseberry.
The finish brings that long smoky ashiness with red fruits, bay leaves and a big hit of liquorice.
A stellar, unctuous Caol Ila that will not stick around long. This dram has truly been blessed by Bacchus.

📸
🎨

Ila

🚨 New release alert 🚨 5/6

Next up is a big and beautiful 10 year old secret Orkney. It has been fully matured in a sumptuous bordeaux barrique. Look at that gorgeous hue!
The nose is wonderfully coastal with salted caramel, raisins, leather and juicy berries.
On the palate there is stewed prunes, figs, dates, cranberries and yes, more sea saltiness.
A lovely smokiness takes hold on the finish. Black Forest gateau and lapsang souchong notes come through with bold tannins.
Make no mistake, this is a bold, maritime dram and was bottled at a mighty 64.1% cask strength.

📸
🎨

🚨 New release alert 🚨 4/6

We just love Linkwood here at Fragrant Drops and this one is an absolute corker! At 12 years old this vatting of two 1st-fill bourbon hogsheads is just 47.5%! Suffice to say the angels have had more than their fair share! Greedy wee things!
The nose is quintessential Linkwood; red apples, fresh cotton, orange blossom, palmaviolets and fizzy sweeties.
More apples on the palate but with Scottish tablet, butterscotch and white chocolate.
The finish is still appley with light white pepper and minty chocolate.
A crowd pleaser and rightly so!

📸
🎨

🚨 New release alert 🚨 3/6

The first of Meghan’s picks is next. A curio indeed! All paperwork pointed to this cask of Dailuaine being aged in ex bourbon wood. The sample arrived and it was dark red! The warehouse also confirmed that it was in a barrique. We still don’t know for sure what the cask was but we have an idea. It has to be tried to be believed!
The nose is caramel, honey, rose water, star anise and blackberry jam.
The palate is mulled cider, vanilla pods, balsamic glaze and panettone.
The finish is oily and nutty. There is more spice with hot apple pie, Demerara sugar and lingering sweetness.
A very unusual and compelling dram. We are baffled and delighted by it. 276 bottles at 58.5%. Run don’t walk to buy a dram or a bottle of it!

📸
🎨

🚨 New release alert 🚨 2/6

Just a 34 year old North British! A firm fan fave amongst grain lovers.
The nose is big and beautiful; hay, toffee mints, wham bars, toasted almonds, apple cake and kaffir lime.
The palate is a spice rack; ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon give way to macaroons and light citrus.
Nutty, creamy and a bit fizzy! Think walnuts, shortbread and sherbet dib dabs.
This beautiful and elegant older grain is bound to delight those on the grain train. Toot toot! 266 bottles and 46.8% abv.

📸
🎨

🚨 New release alert 🚨 1/6

We are honoured to present our bottling of a blended Japanese whisky where the youngest component is 21 years old!
The nose is herbaceous, grassy, with notes of clear apple juice, bruised peaches, Polish gingerbread cookies, sugared almonds, dark chocolate and figs.
The palate is malty and waxy, with remnants of Oloroso, old oak, salty butter, dried red fruits and apricot.
The finish is decidedly creamy: fudge and salted caramel preside with dates, dried herbs and cocoa nibs.
All in all a pretty Christmassy dram, complex and challenging in the best possible way. It takes you places. Truly. 873 bottles available very soon through our marvellous retailers. 47.4% abv.

📸
🎨

📣 ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

Fragrant Drops will be exhibiting for the first time at RMW’s Whisky Fringe at Mansfield Traquair (Friday 9th - Sunday 11th August, 2-6pm daily).

To say we are delighted to be pouring our wares for all of the lovely guests is an understatement as everyone knows that Whisky Fringe really is the cat’s pyjamas. Those lucky enough to have gotten tickets will be getting a sneak preview of FIVE of our new outturn, which we promise is super special. Hope to see as many of you there as possible!

Competition time!!!! Our first. We are giving away a bottle of our Linkwood Tequila finish AND a 29 year old Strathclyde!

Rules are simple:

1. Follow Fragrant Drops
2. Comment on this post
3. Share on your stories

Good luck! Winner drawn on 21st of July! Trying to monitor the bots. If someone replies to prior to 21st of July it isn’t us!

Another new whisky we have winging its way to our trusty retailers in the coming weeks is this marvellous, young Glasgow, which has been bottled at a punchy 61.1% and fully matured in a first-fill bourbon barrel.
The nose is very fresh and fruity, with grassy notes, beeswax, lemon tea, apple chews, coriander, sugar puffs and sandalwood.
Through the palate there is a beautiful creaminess; butterscotch, toffee mints, more apples and white peppers.
The finish has real zest! Orange peel, lemon peel, lime peel, peppermint and almond skins resonate.
Only 232 bottles of this single cask of Glasgow Distillery expression.

📸
🎨

All ready for the second session of the Whisky Lounge Edinburgh! Okay, let’s go!!

We’ve been hideously impatient to get this Linkwood into our mitts/gullets ever since we reracked it into a tequila barrel back in April 2022. Over the past two years the tequila influence has fluctuated massively. At one stage even disappearing completely! Thankfully, it’s back now and we’ve bottled it at what we believe to be the absolute sweet spot.
The nose is fruity and floral, with notes of parma violets, malt, fruit pastilles, pencil shavings and gentle anejo tequila.
The palate brings a real sharp citrus punch with lemon rind, tangerines, green apples, orange blossom, spice and a slight vegetal earthiness. The whisky becomes super viscous almost as soon as it hits the tongue.
The finish is where the tequila influence sings. More fruits; apricots, lemons and oranges. White pepper. Jolly Ranchers.
This mouthwatering bottling is 58.0% and there are 232 bottles. Very proud of this one.

📸
🎨

💥💥💥Whiskyliefhebbers opgelet !!!💥💥💥
Morgen (15 juni) vanaf 13:00 uur is er een "Bar Take-Over" door Steven van Aller in onze kluisruimte en hij vertelt🥃 u graag alles over de onafhankelijke bottelaar Fragrant Drops.
Graag tot morgen😊

Keeble Cask Co new HQ!

Landing in June. But what could it be????

Fragrant Drops are very much forward to seeing you at Cork & Cask’s Summer Fair on Saturday 18th of May. St Giles’s Church in beautiful Marchmont will be brimming with local artisanal beers, mouthwatering wines and curated independent spirits. This really will be the perfect opportunity to sample and get inspiration for any upcoming summer gatherings or indeed a treat to be enjoyed at home! Tickets can be purchased on Cork & Cask’s website for a very reasonable £20.00. Please see below link.

https://corkandcask.co.uk/product/summer-fair-ticket/

Fragy D ladies are go! Come see us at the inaugural Biscuit Factory Beverage Festival today and tomorrow. Got plenty of tasty juice for all!!!

A very important pub for us when we lived in Manchester. It gives us great pride to be on the shelves at the Britons Protection, an absolute institution and safe haven. Enjoying one of our Sauternes-finished Caol Ila, which was one of our fastest selling releases. Slainte!!!

We bottled this 20 year old SUPER BLEND up at its natural cask strength of 45.6% after it had been fully aged in a refill bourbon Hogshead. It’s unusual that the whisky super power that put this blend together uses bourbon casks to mature their prestigious juice, so truly this is a rarity indeed! When a blend is right, it’s just right.
On the nose there is a wonderful maltiness, strawberry laces, kiwi fruit, fresh cotton and beeswax
The palate brings a fresh burst of juicy green apples, butterscotch, salt and pepper, citrus
The finish is creamy, fudgy, sherbety, with lingering lemon herbal tea and grapefruit
There are only 293 bottles of this elegant liquid.

📸
🎨

Mark Davidson, aka the notorious Jolly Toper, is hosting Woodrow’s of Edinburgh and Fragrant Drops at the Kilderkin on 31st March @ 3pm. Three succulent drams from each bottler. £25.00! What. A. Bargain. Message the Jolly Toper if you’d like to reserve a spot which are now limited.

Next up is a 28 year old Tobermory bottled at its natural cask strength of 46.1%. The refill bourbon hoggy truly lets the liquid sing. And what a song!
The nose brings clear apple juice, cloudy honey, wham bars, Haribo strawberries, fruit salad sweets, malt, irn bru, bubblegum and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
The palate has carrot cake, salt and pepper, pineapple, banana bread, cherry lips and orange jellies.
The finish has a delicate waxiness, orange zest, sherbet, black tea and gummy bears.
There are only 196 bottles of this veritable tuck shop!

📸
🎨

First out of the gates for this year’s releases is this cracker of a Strathclyde, which is 29 years old and bottled at its natural cask strength of 45.1%. Strathclyde was originally built to make grain neutral spirit for gin production, so boy are we glad that some of the spirit ends up as this beautifully sweet single grain whisky!
On the nose there is lemon bon bons, milk bottle sweeties, lady fingers, nougat, cinnamon rolls and marzipan.
On the palate you can expect gentle oak, Demerara sugar, lemon zest, white pepper, vanilla fudge and wholewheat biscuits.
Finishing on peppermint, salted peanuts, kaffir lime, toffee yoghurt and light tannins.
There are only 192 bottles of this delightful expression.

📸
🎨

Here we go! Fife Whisky Festival 2024. Hot off the press; two brand new expressions. Come see us to find out more!

Fragrant Drops will be at the Abbey Bar in Edinburgh on Tuesday the 27th of February at 19.30. Ticket link https://abbeybar.co.uk/whisky-tasting-tickets/

G’aun yersel, Rabbie! Happy Burns one and all! Hope you’re celebrating the bard with a dram and some fine Scottish fare and verse. Speaking of drams, here’s a wee preview of an upcoming bottle. But what is it?!

As the last few hours of 2023 tick by, we’d like to say our most heartfelt thanks to all of the truly magnificent folk who have helped make our fledgling brand a success in our first year of business. Retailers, restos and watering holes that have taken a chance on and subsequently championed us. People buying drams or bottles; sharing them. Talking about them. How utterly humbling it is for us that you’d spend your hard-earned dinero on our booze. To all of our family, friends and new friends at festivals and beyond who have listened to our stories and probably had their ears talked clean off, we say thank you!

In 2023 we released 17 bottlings. No mean feat for a new indie. We absolutely stood on the shoulders of you all. Again, thank you.

Happy New Year to you and yours. May it be full of love, good health, laughter and drams!

2024 will see the release of some belters from Fragrant Drops. Keep your eyes peeled.

Just in time for Christmas, we have four new bottles winging their way to retailers, bars and restaurants. The first of which to look out for is this stellar 35 year old Invergordon which has been married from two refill hogsheads and bottled at the delicate cask strength of 41.0%.
On the nose there is a whole lotta banana, butterscotch pudding, crème brûlée and lemon bons bons giving way to gentle wood varnish.
On the palate yet more creamy desserts, marzipan, crème caramel and freshly chopped coriander.
Finishing with mashed bananas, salty beer nut skins and leather.
There are only 187 bottles of this heavenly bottle, so if you see one, act fast!

📸

All ready for Glasgow Whisky Festival 2023! We are in the Lomond Suite at stand 24. Come say hello!

All set up for Newcastle’s Indy Love Fest! Home turf for Rachel.