Smoky scotch doesn’t must imply overpowering peat or a dram by the fireplace. For Wee Smoky, smoke is a software, not the entire story. This impartial bottler has got down to create a lighter, sweeter, cocktail-friendly scotch whisky that brings a delicate twist of smoke to the glass.
We spoke with Felix Bottomley, a part of the crew behind Wee Smoky’s rising international presence, to learn the way they’re rethinking custom, why single grain is smart for mixing, and the place the model is headed subsequent.
What Is Wee Smoky?
Launched in 2020, Wee Smoky is an impartial scotch whisky model based by Rory Gammell, a former Edrington government with international drinks expertise. The whisky itself is a corn-based single grain scotch completed in peated casks to ship a delicate smokiness with out the load or depth of conventional Islay malts.
Visually daring and unashamedly fashionable, Wee Smoky was designed for cocktails, not collectors. From smoky Palomas to highballs, it’s already showing on again bars in Australia, Hong Kong, and throughout Europe. With clear branding, an accessible flavour profile, and a transparent concentrate on drinkability, Wee Smoky has a lofty intention: to turn out to be the #1 scotch whisky for mixing, globally. And, it’s nicely on its approach.
Wee Smoky Model Ambassador, Felix Bottomley, shed some gentle on Wee Smoky’s model philosophy, their rising international outreach, and why he believes that Wee Smoky is one of the best scotch whisky to get pleasure from in a cocktail.
A Single Grain Base With A Smoky Twist
Q1: Why did you select single grain scotch as the bottom for Wee Smoky, and what benefits does it supply when crafting a whisky designed for mixing?
As a result of it does the job brilliantly. It’s turn out to be a standard phrase that ‘Single grains are underrated,’ and it’s completely true, however not many are totally taking possession of that or utilizing it in thrilling, modern methods.
Single grain gave us the clear, easy canvas we would have liked to then play with barely smoky ending. It’s a whisky that performs nicely with cocktails as a consequence of using corn, giving it a slight sweetness. It’s gentle, versatile, and doesn’t dominate the drink like among the heavier malts do.
We didn’t need one thing that simply ticks whisky packing containers. We needed a spirit that made smoky cocktails truly work.
Q2: Peat could be a polarising flavour. What impressed you to take a delicate, mixable strategy to smoke, and the way have cocktail lovers responded to that stability?
Peat may be intense. But it surely doesn’t must be. We didn’t need a whisky that blew your head off or scorched your throat. As an alternative, the aim was stability: sufficient smokiness to intrigue, however not a lot that it takes over.
For those who look across the peated shelf, for essentially the most half, all the pieces seems to be and feels the identical, too conventional, too smoky, and crucially, with malts going up in value, too costly. Which is the place we are available in.
Bartenders and cocktail drinkers love experimenting, and the power to try this with a mild smoke works very nicely. It makes drinks style elevated, not intimidating. We’ve had Paloma followers, spritz lovers, even gin drinkers saying: “Wait, that is whisky?” That’s precisely what we’re right here for.
International Presence & The Way forward for Wee Smoky
Q3: You’ve constructed an export-focused model from day one. What have you ever discovered about how completely different markets have interaction with smoky whisky, and the place do you see the most important potential for development?
We launched as an e-commerce-only product throughout COVID, with simply 400 bottles, which bought out in 4 days. Over time, we noticed that our residence market was nonetheless fairly conventional, whereas worldwide markets had been extra open to new concepts about how whisky may look, really feel, and be consumed.
Smoky whisky means various things elsewhere. Within the UK, it’s nonetheless largely tied to heritage and neat serves. However in locations like Australia, we’re already in high cocktail bars and residential bars alike. Folks there are utilizing Wee Smoky to make combined drinks, which is precisely what we meant.
In China, we’ve been working bartender masterclasses with teams of 40 to 60 professionals. The suggestions is constant: the bottle, the flavour profile, and the extent of smoke seize individuals’s consideration right away. What we’ve discovered is that it’s not about whisky guidelines, it’s about ingesting moments.
The rising curiosity in Mezcal, particularly within the U.S., proves there’s demand for delicate smoke in cocktails. Wee Smoky gives a scotch various: frivolously smoky, naturally colored, and designed to combine.
We see it as Scotland’s reply to Mezcal, and with our simple-serve technique, we’re increasing throughout Europe and making ready for the U.S. For scotch to remain related, it wants manufacturers like ours to usher in the following era.
This autumn: You’ve set your sights on turning into the primary smoky whisky for mixing worldwide. What does success seem like for Wee Smoky over the following few years, and the way do you intend to face out in such a aggressive class?
Success for us means this: somebody walks right into a bar in Sydney, Nashville, or Barcelona and orders a Wee Smoky Paloma with out blinking. We’re not making an attempt to compete along with your heritage whiskies, we’re creating a brand new lane totally. That’s how we stand out: by being the whisky that doesn’t really feel like “a whisky”.
The subsequent few years are about planting flags: locking in international listings, getting liquid to as many lips as doable, and displaying the world that scotch doesn’t must be to your grandad and it may be engaging for a brand new era of drinkers.
Purchase Wee Smoky Whisky
Wee Smoky Single Grain Scotch Whisky, completed in peated casks, is accessible within the UK, and chosen international markets together with Australia, South Korea, China, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Denmark.
UK-based Wee Smoky fanatics can order a bottle immediately from the model’s web site for £34.95. These based mostly exterior the UK can discover Wee Smoky right here, or verify availability in native shops.
