The dynamics of the Scotch whisky market have influenced the bottles making it to shop shelves. Two of the biggest trends that showed up in the tasting glass are directly attributable to underwhelming balance sheets: the return to age statements and the proliferation of independent bottlers. Thankfully, I’m delighted to report that both these developments mean extremely good things for consumers.

Scotch is many things, and it’s certainly more evocative than economics and accounting. It’s a spirit that draws people together and sustains communities. 2025 might be a strange year for Scotch in some respects but the whiskies are no less delicious.

The return of age statements

Perhaps the most striking shift since last year’s report has been the return to age statements. While I tasted every whisky blind, I also receive headline information that helps place each expression on the whisky landscape. These include details like style, peat level and age statement. Age isn’t necessarily an indication of quality but it can be a useful guide as to what to expect in the glass. This year, there was a marked increase not just in the loftier age statements (including a 52-year-old blend) but eight, 10 and 15 year-old whiskies too.

Why? In the recent boom, when casks could barely be filled quickly enough, blenders needed any aged stock; flavour was more important than hitting a particular age threshold. So, aside from the legal three-year minimum, distilleries disregarded specific numbers. Now that sales have slowed and casks are piling back up in warehouses, blenders have much more to choose from again, allowing them to achieve the all-important flavour profiles and stick to an age statement.

Distilleries reintroducing age statements or increasing the age on the bottle, as we see with the likes of Jura 12 Year Old, doesn’t inherently result in better whisky. But I do identify an ease in whisky-making, a sense of creative freedom in blending that shines across nose, palate and finish. Give any group of masters a broader palette with which to create and the results will be more vibrant.

The rise and rise of independent bottlers

Another consequence of increased stocks has been an uptick in independent bottlers in Scotch. It’s easier now than at any time in recent memory to pick up great quality casks.

Independent bottlers don’t distil. Instead, they buy whisky from distilleries and release them under their own names. Sometimes they’ll blend and/or mature the whisky too. And often their focus is on unusual casks that have aroma and flavour profiles that constitute outliers when compared with the signature styles of the big distilleries. Some of the most exciting whiskies I tasted this year came from these indie bottlers.

Some of the most thrilling bottlers I found here include Thompson Bros, Milroy’s of Soho and Cask Masters. The folks behind these brands are inventors in their own right – and Scotch feels so much richer for having their perspectives.

Considered use of peat continues

Some of the most ardent whisky lovers adore the evocative, transportative flavour profiles that come from peat. You might be one of them, I certainly am. In last year’s Scotch Whisky Report, I picked out a trend for a subtler, more nuanced use of peat. I’m delighted to write that the trend has only strengthened.

From Isle of Raasay’s commitment to vatting both peated and unpeated whiskies and Torabhaig’s intricate medium-peated distillery profile, to old, exquisite blends letting smoke trail off to a whisper, peat isn’t a black-and-white component; distillers are increasingly accomplished at using it in infinite greyscale. Whether it’s advances in kilning or distilling, or an appreciation that sometimes less is more, peat has never been so profound.

The factor that gives me the most confidence in modern Scotch? The quality. There is such a range of great sipping experiences to be had from such a vast flavour spectrum. While ever this commitment to quality, experimentation and creativity exists, whisky drinkers will still thirst for Scotch’s ever-enchanting allure. Surely that’s the most delicious guarantee of longevity.

Tasting notes and scores from Club Oenologique’s Scotch Whisky Report 2025 (featuring only those whiskies scoring 90 points and above) are available to all registered users of The Collection, the online home of our premium wine and spirits content. To register, click here.