The company
Ian MacLeod was founded in 1933 by Leonard J. Russel. Russel strongly believed in the guiding principle that independent bottlers would enrich the whisky market as they were not dependent on a single distillery.
Ian MacLeod is now one of the ten largest whisky companies. Today, the company is run by his son Peter Russell, who was already active as a whisky broker in the 1950s. The independent bottler has already bought a distillery from the Edrington Group twice. In 2003, he acquired the Glengoyne distillery, followed a few years later by the then closed Tamdhu distillery. In 2017, Ian MacLeod revived the Rosebank distillery and was able to bring a 31-year-old Rosebank to the market from old stocks.
The range
Ian MacLeod's focus is on the various blended Scotch whiskies. However, the single malt Smokehead and MacLeod's malts from unnamed distilleries are also bottled, as well as the following single malt whisky series.
As we get it: As the name suggests, the single malts in this series are bottled as they come out of the cask. Not chill-filtered.
Chieftains Choice: Contains very rare malts, often from distilleries that have already closed.
Dun Bheagan: This range includes single cask bottlings and small batches from Speyside, the Highlands and Islay. Dun Bheagan is an old Gaelic village on the Isle of Skye. Many illicit distilleries used to be based here. It has also been the family seat of the MacLeods since the 13th century. The whisky is not chill-filtered and contains no colouring.
Blends
The bottler's best-known blends include Isle of Skye, King Robert II and The Six Isles. The Dunfife, Glenshire, Hedges & Butler, Langs, Marshal and Queen's Seal blends are also produced.
Second label Dun Bheagan
With the Dun Bheagan bottle label, Ian MacLeod is launching further bottlings with distillery names on the market without being named as an independent bottler. This range includes single cask bottlings and small batches from Speyside, the Highlands and Islay. Dun Bheagan is an old Gaelic village on the Isle of Skye. Many illicit distilleries used to be based here. It has also been the family seat of the MacLeods since the 13th century. The whisky is not chill-filtered and contains no colouring.
