Integrity Malts x Still In Cask
Published 4 Nov 2024
Four exciting new casks have been added to Still In Cask recently – but not by a distillery.
These Scotch quarter casks have been listed by Integrity Malts, a new independent bottler putting their own spin on transparent, quality Scottish Single Malt Whisky. Our Marketing Director Richard caught up with one of the founders to find out what they had in store and why they’ve chosen to launch their brand on Still In Cask:
Richard Foster: Hello Jared, why don’t you start by introducing yourselves and telling us a bit about your story?
Jared Cave: Hello everyone. My name is Jared and along with my colleague Ilya, we are the founders of Integrity Malts. We’re whisky enthusiasts who for some time have wanted to launch our own independent whisky bottle label. And now we have...
RF: Where did the name “Integrity Malts” come from?
JC: Although there is no universally accepted definition of an 'Integrity Malt', ours is quite simple. Our small batch Integrity Malt releases will have no added colour, and they will not be chill filtered. They will however be single cask 70cl bottlings, have an age statement and will be bottled at cask strength. Many will be finished in exotic wood to create added complexity. And most importantly of all, they will be sold at very fair prices.
RF: And why have you chosen to launch your first whiskies on Still In Cask, rather than waiting to bottle them and launch the traditional way?
JC: After a chance meeting online with yourself Richard we decided that we would launch our first expressions on this platform. For us it was a way of getting the first bottles out there sooner (we’ve only just had them re-racked into the quarter casks) and also ensure the very best price for these outstanding liquids. Still In Cask has a great audience of true whisky fans and we wanted to get Integrity Malts in front of them in a simple and transparent way, which Still In Cask alloes us to do.
RF: OK, sounds great for whisky drinkers – so what have you listed in your first batch?
JC:
Integrity Malts – Expression One
For our first release, we have selected an 11-year-old cask of Royal Brackla. Distilled on 08/04/2013 where it was originally filled into a bourbon hogshead. On 30/09/24 the spirit was then re-racked into a first fill Oloroso sherry quarter cask.
Here it will mature for approximately 12 months so the sherry cask can impart both the flavour and colour that you would associate with an Oloroso cask finish. Royal Brackla use this combination of bourbon and sherry casks themselves for their 12-year-old expression. But we enjoy it so much we thought it was time to produce a cask strength version ourselves.
https://stillincask.com/blog/integrity-malts-x-still-in-cask
Integrity Malts – Expression Two
This is the sister bottling to Expression One. Our 11-year-old cask of Royal Brackla was originally distilled on 08/04/2013 where it was filled into a bourbon hogshead. Like our previous releases we then had it transferred to our warehouse and on 30/09/24 where the spirit was then re-racked into a first Pedro Ximénez sherry quarter cask.
Our aim here was to demonstrate the differences of the two sherry types when used to finish a Highland single malt Scotch whisky.
Here it will mature for approximately 12 months so the sherry cask can impart both the sweet flavour and dark colour that you would associate with a Pedro Ximénez cask finish. Small 125 litre quarter casks do a fantastic job of adding flavour and colour due to the larger surface area contact with the spirit. Our sampling will start after three months, and we will track its progress from there.
We will bottle both of these whiskies as single casks, at natural cask strength, without chill filtration and without added colour and release it as a 12-year-old single malt.
https://stillincask.com/blog/integrity-malts-x-still-in-cask
Integrity Malts – Expression Three
Our third expression will be a ten-year-old Ardmore from the Highlands which we have re-racked into an ex-Laphroaig quarter cask. We will age this for around a year carefully monitoring the whisky, so we know when it is time to bottle.
Our original cask of Ardmore was distilled on 08/06/2015
https://stillincask.com/blog/integrity-malts-x-still-in-cask
Integrity Malts – Expression Four
Our final expression will be the other half of this Ardmore hogs-head but this time re-racked into a first fill Pedro Ximénez quarter cask where we will wait up to a year for the new wood to impart sweeter and darker flavours.
On 08/09/2024 we received four quarter casks from our cooperage. And on 30/09/2024 the spirit was re-racked into the ex-Laphroaig and ex Pedro Ximenez wood. Both Ardmore expressions will be bottled as ten-year-olds.
https://stillincask.com/blog/integrity-malts-x-still-in-cask
RF: These all sound fantastic Jared, thank you for the insight into your brand and products. I can attest (having sampled the original Royal Brackla and Ardmore liquids) that these are going to be phenomenal releases, as the source whisky in both cases were excellent examples of their origin distilleries – and will only be made better through the careful selection of quality wood for the finishing process. Best of luck and I can’t wait to drink your first releases in around a year’s time.
JC: Thank you – we will share updates at every stage so customers can join us on our journey, we will publish tasting notes after we draw samples at quarterly intervals to monitor what is happening in the cask. We hope you find it interesting. We certainly will!
RF: Thank you, we can’t wait to hear the updates as these casks mature on their journey to becoming the first Integrity Malts releases. Cheers.