House of Hazelwood has been collecting whiskies for generations—and now it's available to the public

Quirky names with fun histories behind them line the collection, and as we taste a few of them, Phil explains the meaning behind them. Starting off with a blended grain scotch whisky – a rare finding itself – with only seven active grain distilleries operating in Scotland, and no more than twelve in history. This category comes with liquids few and far in between, with only about three brands of blended grain scotch to be released for commercial sale. The Eight Grain, true to its name, consists of eight different grains, with the youngest whisky in the blend aged 40 years. A large portion of the blend is from Girvan, and the rest are undisclosed, an anonymity that is maintained throughout the collection. The whisky exudes a beautiful light hue, and on the nose are beautiful caramel flavours, reminiscent of Crème Brûlée and panna cotta. Many of the whisky used come from distilleries that no longer exist, making them irreplaceable and unreplicable. 

Other fun names include Blended at Birth, which is eponymous to its technique: a whisky that was blended at conception. A method that is illegal now, Blended at Birth was created when Charles Gordon blended different whiskies from different distilleries before they were aged. Phil explains that in 2009, the technical files around Scotch whisky changed, “which means if you blended your whisky today, you couldn’t call it Scotch whisky.” The liquid went into cask in 1965, and bottled in 2022, and at 57 years of age, it not only has stood the test of time, but carries immense history with it. With the age of the whisky, a lot of the cask has also evaporated, and what’s left is now 192 bottles of this incredible liquid. 

Describing whisky blends as an oil painting, Phil explains a distillery represents a colour, “Dalmore is the colour red. You can age Dalmore to different levels, but everything’s a shade of red. If you’re creating an oil painting and you’ve only got red, you sometimes want other colours.”

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To secure their spot in the space of ultra-aged and ultra-premium whisky, although seemingly unrivaled, they have had a few partnerships with iconic heritage luxury brands, including Savile Row, where a limited edition bottle called the Huntsman was released for their customers. Working with their head cutter, who just so happens to be Scottish, within their whisky concierge service, created a blend that was the embodiment of Savile Row. A hit with their clientele, “there were only 75 bottles in the world. It sold out before it went in a bottle.” says Phil. 

With thousands of casks left to explore, Phil remarks, “The hardest part of my job is deciding what to put out next.” Prior to bottling, a small proportion of the stocks are held in a traditional dunnage warehousing in Speyside, where a team of experts carefully monitor and sampled ahead of release. Impossible to understate the rarity of these whiskies within the collection, we’d recommend you keep an eye out for their new releases should you be looking for an education in whisky. 

With regard to future plans for the business, Phil explains that, “In terms of both breadth and depth, the inventory of aged Scotch whisky that House of Hazelwood can draw from is truly unmatched. We will build up a personal relationship with the collectors and enthusiasts that we know will be interested in the launch releases. We are also opening the business up to consider private projects by commission through our whisky concierge service that will offer individuals and businesses the opportunity to explore the collection with a view to bottling a single cask or working with us to create their own proprietary blend.”

It’s not very often that a private collection is being offered for public consumption, and it’s even rarer that the collection is of this calibre of quality and history. Acting as a bridge between the past and the present, each bottle is a remarkable capture of a moment in time, pregnant with meaning.

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