Seven Guys, One Van, and a Cask Nobody Expected
The Whiskey Lab's First Scotland Tour · March 2026 · Edinburgh to Campbeltown to Glasgow
How This Started
Back in November, I saw a post in the Facebook group for the Independent Spirits Festival happening March 21 in Leith. Someone from the Philadelphia Whisky Society was putting a group together. I reached out, said I was doing the same, had a few commitments and a few open spots.
A month later, I had one commitment and five open spots. That one person was Jeff Lichtman, and he had four guys plus himself looking to go. He reviewed my trip outline. It was close to what they planned, but they were going to ride buses. I rented a van and drove us all over Scotland instead.
A few changes happened once we merged. The trip extended two days at everyone's individual cost. Jeff's connections upgraded our Glen Scotia tour to a private warehouse tasting. He scheduled an extra tasting with Watt Whisky. And I reached out to Tri Carragh, one of the indie bottlers The Whiskey Lab imports, and asked if they'd put together something special.
They did. Eight whiskies from upcoming releases nobody had seen yet. Followed by a blind five-cask tasting where we'd select a USA exclusive for The Whiskey Lab.
The Crew
Jay (me)
The Whiskey Lab founder. Driver. Only one who didn't sleep past 10 PM on the last night.
Joe
Chicago PD. The Whiskey Lab's Chicago brand ambassador. Threatened to arrest Jeff at least three times.
Jeff
Retired Philly lawyer. Blending enthusiast. Target of the Law & Order theme song on repeat.
Austin
The tall guy who ducked through every doorway in Scotland. Routinely told us he hated us. Specifically because of the Law & Order theme song.
Gary
Naval yard engineer. Aka "Drunk Gary." Could fall asleep anywhere, in any position, at any time.
Vince
More of a cop than Joe. Kept the group in line when the jokes went too far.
Nick
Silent killer. Quiet until the exact right moment. Then a bomb comment or a surprise dram nobody saw coming.
Seven strangers became a crew with nicknames by day two.
Before the Group: Scottish Development International
The trip actually started earlier for me. In January, The Whiskey Lab was invited by Scottish Development International to a Showcasing Scotland event, March 10-13. Four days meeting distillers, gin producers, Jamaican rum makers operating in Scotland, and indie bottlers. I was honored to be considered. The timing lined up perfectly with the group trip starting March 20.
Those four days produced two new brand partnerships with phenomenal releases coming to the US. Following that, I spent time touring Scotland, taking product photos, and visiting the founders of Uncharted Whisky Co. Jack Breslin and I drove up to Speyside for a night at the Highlander Inn with Tatsuya. Great drams. Great discussions.
Day 0 · March 19
Joe Arrives Early
Joe flew in a day early. We started with a meeting at Maclean & Bruce to meet Guy Cheung and do a quick tasting. Guy and I have been talking since he arrived in Scotland, and once he started at Maclean & Bruce, The Whiskey Lab got access to a different class of casks. We've done one deal already and hope to do more.
Guy, Joe, and I had lunch and drams at the Maclean & Bruce compound, then headed back to Edinburgh. A few drams at the Black Cat and I was done. Needed rest before the full group arrived Friday.
Day 1 · March 20
Young Spirits, Tri Carragh, and Bed by 10
The team arrived at the InterContinental at George Square. We met at Maxie's for lunch, then grabbed a cab to Young Spirits.
Where it started. And where it ended.
Lukasz opened the facility for us on a Friday afternoon. They do half days, so the place was quiet and we got the full tour of the cask warehouse plus a deep dive on operations.
What the group didn't know: before we arrived, I asked Lukasz to pull a cask I've owned since 2024 off the racks. A 2nd fill Oloroso-finished Invergordon that turns 40 on April 25. It took 10 tries to break open the plug.
10 tries to open a cask. Worth every one.
The whisky was incredible. I pulled a sample a year ago and loved it, but a year later in that oak, about to turn 40, it was so much better. The group poured drams straight from the cask.
Private Ferg & Harris tasting at Young Spirits.
After the Ferg & Harris tasting, we cabbed to the Royal Mile for Tri Carragh.
Ryan and Ola, founders of Tri Carragh, had a private room at Cask & Vine with eight drams poured and waiting. For 90 minutes they walked us through every upcoming release. None had been announced to the public or even their other importers. The Whiskey Lab committed to importing six of them on the spot.
Then came the blind tasting.
Five casks. No names. No ages. No cask details. Just liquid. The vote was unanimous.
One cask stood out immediately. Bold. Full-bodied. Tropical fruit and vanilla wrapped in something deep and savoury that several people mistook for peat. When the cards were flipped, it was the youngest cask on the table: an 8-year-old Inchmurrin finished in 2nd fill Palo Cortado.
That became The Whiskey Lab's first USA exclusive. What made it even more special: our last day included a tour of the distillery that produced it.
From 4 to 7 PM, we enjoyed our time with Ryan and Ola. Joe only threatened to arrest Jeff three times.
Dinner at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society on Queen Street. Not long after sitting down, one of our crew was face down asleep at the table. Red-eye flight the night before plus seven hours of drinking will do that. A couple of drams, some food, and the night was done by 9:30 PM.
Day one. Bed by 10 PM. A theme was developing.
Day 2 · March 21
The Independent Spirits Festival
Jeff led the group on a Royal Mile tour during the afternoon, then we met up at the festival at 4 PM.
Walking in felt different from American events. No intense security. No long lines. A relaxed atmosphere with indie bottlers pouring single cask releases you'll never find again.
After one hour, Austin and I bumped into each other and both said "I can't believe it's already been an hour." We should have knocked on wood because the rest of the night flew.
We moved in groups of two. Joe fell in love with a Jura release from One Cask at a Time. Jeff spent so much time at the Finn Thomson table that he bought two bottles. Nick, Gary, and Vince were tactical, timing their arrivals at the Gordon & MacPhail table perfectly for the super-old limited releases that dropped every hour. Without them, I wouldn't have had any whisky from the 1970s.
The Independent Spirits Festival, Leith. Relaxed, packed, and over too fast.
I met around ten more potential indie bottlers interested in coming to America. But I tried to separate business from just enjoying the whisky. I noticed a few young distilleries with nearly empty tables and made sure to talk with them. Being on the other side of the table at events, I've been completely ignored before and I don't like that feeling. There is greatness in young distillers. The indie bottlers who find them first and release a great cask help grow both brands.
End of the night, we were all starving. Burgers. Another night done by 10 PM.
Day 3 · March 22
Fintry and an Evening with Uncharted
Load the van. I told everyone: one full-size luggage and a backpack to keep on your lap. Seven men in a nine-person van. I should have given dimensions. Good thing I'm decent at Tetris.
After two days of heavy drinking, Sunday was designed as an easy day. Drive through the countryside to Fintry, hometown of Jack Breslin and Uncharted Whisky Co, then enjoy a few drams.
The Fintry Inn is a pub and inn in a town of about 600 people. When we walked in on a Sunday night, we saw every aspect of life. Families, kids, teens, young adults, all together. A community hub.
Dinner with Jack, then a private tasting in his room at the Inn. Six Uncharted whiskies, two unreleased, some coming to America soon. Jeff tried a Glen Scotia at the bar, bought the bottle, and opened it upstairs. The group went back down and bought three more.
Private tasting with Uncharted at the Fintry Inn. Six whiskies. Two unreleased.
Bed by 10 PM. Again.
Day 4 · March 23
Glencoe, Oban, and a Birthday Dram
On the road by 9. Tour at Oban at 2 PM. Jeff suggested a stop at Luss on Loch Lomond. People warned me it was a tourist trap, but the coffee was good. It cut into our Glencoe time, but the drive through the mountains was worth the extra hour.
Glencoe. Not required to get to Oban. Absolutely required for the soul.
Barrels by the Bay at Oban was outstanding. Behind-the-scenes tour. Pulled whisky from a cask. Six-dram tasting ending with Oban Ultima from 1996. Incredible to see a large corporately-owned distillery producing a million liters a year still operating in old-school ways. Same traditions. Same quality.
The city has something magical about it. My wife and I visited last year and it was her favorite stop. Several in our group said the same.
Dinner right on the bay. Window seats. More drams. Then to the Whisky Vaults bar, where it happened to be our tour guide's 30th birthday. We got him there and bought him a dram he'd been wanting: Bunnahabhain 18.
Oban tasting. Six drams. The Ultima from 1996 was the one.
Done by 10 PM. Naturally.
Day 5 · March 24
Glen Scotia, Cadenhead, and Haggis Nachos
On the road by 7 AM. Jeff thought Springbank opened at 9. They open at 10. And we had a 9 AM private tour at Glen Scotia.
Glen Scotia was even more personal than Oban. Jeff's connections to the Loch Lomond group upgraded us to a private warehouse tasting. We pulled directly from five casks: 1st fill ex-bourbon, 1st fill port, 1st fill Oloroso, 1st fill rum, and a peated Glen Scotia. All incredible. We got to buy 200ml bottles of the cask pulls.
Glen Scotia's still safe. Campbeltown craft at its finest.
After lunch, we walked to Cadenhead for a blending session. Ten seats. Eight vials of whisky. All different colors. I expected guided instruction. We got a timer and were told to finish before 6 PM.
Jeff is a blending guy. Done first. I'm a single cask guy. Blending is not my thing. Of the seven blends, I was the only one who didn't include a grain. The only blended malt in the room. Funny, considering I release single grain casks more often than most indie bottlers.
Cadenhead blending lab. Eight vials. One timer. No instructions.
Dinner at the Royal Hotel. Same restaurant as lunch. Everyone ordered the same thing. The haggis nachos were that good.
Done by 10 PM.
Day 6 · March 25
Springbank. The Pinnacle.
The most expensive tour of the trip. Roughly $340 per person. Worth every pound.
In line at 9:30 AM for cage releases. Sixth in line. Only one Springbank 15 available. Cage releases are single casks at cask strength. Springbank, Hazelburn, Longrow, Kilkerran. All different casks. All unique. Never reproduced. They release a set amount each day. Once gone, wait until tomorrow. They track purchases by name. One bottle per person per week. Good on them for keeping it accessible.
The tour starts at the bar with a breakfast dram: a 24-year-old ex-bourbon Hazelburn. Springbank's triple-distilled, non-peated release.
From there, the full tour. Floor malting. Drying barley. Distillation. Longrow was on the still and we tasted new make straight from the still safe.
Springbank. Zero computers. Everything by hand, by eye, by tradition.
For 20 minutes we were whisky geeks taking photos of each other from every angle in one of the most loved warehouses in the country. Six grown men acting like kids in a candy shop.
A 32-year-old Springbank was waiting in the warehouse. Same one my wife and I tried last year. This time, maybe too long in bottle, a few of us thought it was flat. The 24-year-old Longrow cask pull was similar. Good, not great.
Then I poured some Longrow into the Springbank glass. That was superb. Our host got us small pours to experiment with. People book this tour just for these drams.
The blending lab. I learned from last year's mistake. Port and sherry together attacked each other and went flat in the bottle. This year: 350ml 1st fill Madeira, 250ml 1st fill bourbon, 100ml 1st fill rum. Nobody else used Madeira. Nick had four blends going at once. Jeff was done first.
After blending, each of us got to select one cage release. The Barley to Bottle tour gives you access without waiting in the morning line.
Back at the bar, rare Springbank releases. Some from the 70s. Some never to be found again.
Dinner at the Ardshiel. Joe almost arrested Jeff again.
Bed by 10 PM. Who are we? Retirees?
Day 7 · March 26
Arran, a Broken Ferry, and Indian Food
The plan: ferry to Isle of Arran, brunch at Lochranza distillery, drive across the island, ferry to Glasgow, dinner at the Artisan.
Plans in Scotland are suggestions.
We arrived at the ferry terminal 40 minutes early and were told there wasn't room. Joe and I stayed behind for a cigar. The rest caught the 9 AM ferry and walked the path from the port, past the Butt Lodge (yes, real name), to Lochranza distillery. Kitchen didn't open until noon.
Then the return ferry was cancelled. CalMac, Scotland's state-owned ferry company, has been catching heat for exactly this. I rebooked us from Brodick to Troon. The delay killed our Glasgow dinner. The group spent five hours in Brodick. After five days of nonstop drinking, nobody complained too hard. We popped a bottle in the ferry lounge and told stories.
The ferry was enormous. Scotland's largest. It had been in the news: two ferries bought for 97 million pounds. One delivered eight years late at over 200 million. After 14 months in service it went to the yard for three months of repairs.
Halfway across, Gary and I looked at each other. The ship shook and slowed. Gary is an engineer at the naval yards. I'm a former submariner. We both knew immediately: lost propulsion.
The announcement came: "Sorry folks, we're having issues. It will take us an extra hour." Gary and I had already diagnosed the problem before the captain finished the sentence.
Made it at 7:30 PM. Downtown Glasgow by 8:30. Everyone was spent. The entire trip I'd been talking about how good the Indian food in Scotland was and we hadn't tried any. We finally found a great spot. Incredible food.
I was done. The group continued on.
Day 8 · March 27-28
Loch Lomond and Back Where It Started
Joe caught a train to the airport after dinner. Friday morning: 9 AM tour at Loch Lomond distillery.
Hardest night of sleep on the trip. I'm not sure I slept at all. Arriving at Loch Lomond, I felt off but pushed through. What I saw woke me up.
Loch Lomond is the opposite of Springbank. Where Springbank has zero computers and runs on tradition, Loch Lomond is as scientific as it gets. Hybrid pot stills with column plates on top. A small column still that does 100% malted barley, which directly led to the SWA making it law that single malt must come only from pot stills. Eight different distillates. Their own on-site cooperage. We watched a barrel get cleaned, recharred, and pressure tested.
They're boundary pushers. And they made the Inchmurrin we selected on night one.
That connection hit different. We tasted the spirit blind, chose it unanimously, then six days later stood in the distillery where it was made.
Loch Lomond. Hybrid stills. Eight distillates. The science behind Inchmurrin.
By the time the private tasting with their master blender started, I couldn't drink (driving) and was dead on my feet. I went to the van and slept 90 minutes sitting up. Felt like a million bucks after.
Loaded up at 2 PM. Airport at 3. Van turned in. The group headed downtown Edinburgh.
I went off alone to write in my journal. I try to decompress at the end of every trip. Remove electronics. Enjoy a whisky. Unload my mind onto paper.
It didn't take long. I met up with the group and we ended up where it all started: Maxie's. From there, Bow Bar for Tri Carragh drams. One last experience before departing.
I say experience because ordering at Bow Bar was an event in itself. I kept trying to order and the bartender made it clear she did not approve of my choices. I won't get into what actually happened, but imagine walking into a bar and being told they don't serve milk. That is the energy. Eventually I got the whisky. It was worth the negotiation.
Seven strangers. One week. Friends by day two.
Last night of the trip. I was up past 10 PM.
What I Took Away
This trip was supposed to be about whisky. It was. But it was also about what happens when you put seven strangers who share a passion in a van for a week.
By day two it didn't feel like work. It felt like hanging out with friends. Busting each other's chops. Joe threatening to arrest Jeff. Austin hating us for the Law & Order theme. Drunk Gary asleep in positions that shouldn't be possible. Nick's perfectly timed one-liners. Vince restoring order.
Most Americans don't know indie bottlers exist. When I explain what The Whiskey Lab does, the most common response is "so like an NDP?" They couldn't be further from it. Indie bottlers find the casks that distilleries won't release themselves, bottle them at cask strength with no shortcuts, and put their name on it.
This trip was about seeing that up close. The warehouses. The cask selections. The people who do this because they love it. And bringing a group of people who drink this whisky to meet the people who make it.
We tasted a spirit blind on night one, voted unanimously, and six days later stood inside the distillery that made it. That doesn't happen on a bus tour.
I'm doing this again. If you want in on the next one, reach out. The van has seven seats.
The bottle we selected on night one is available to pre-order now.
Pre-Order the Inchmurrin 8yr Palo Cortado