The Whisky Barrel
The Whisky Barrel is an online retailer of whisky and other spirits, founded in 2007. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the shop in 2022, a series of single cask bottlings was commissioned. Some of those bottles were still around in 2025, and the Whisky Barrel apparently had a bit of a clear-out. I was able to pick up a few bargains, including this Annandale single malt for around £50.
I must confess to not having known an awful lot about The Whisky Barrel before this round of special offers, but I’ve since used them a few times and have been able to pick up good drams at good prices and have found the service to be both prompt and reliable.
Annandale, on the other hand, is a whisky that’s crossed my path quite regularly over the last few years. I find the lowland distillery to be a bit of an enigma, and am somewhat fascinated by it.
Annandale Distillery
Annandale is an old distillery that closed down and was very nearly lost forever before it was brought back to life in recent years. Having visited a couple of times, I can confirm that a brilliant job has made of the rebuild. The place looks fantastic, and the design sensibly sticks to a very traditional layout. You could easily believe that the new distillery is significantly older than it is, just from its classical appearance. The branding, however, has never quite convinced me.
Unpeated Annandale malt is bottled as Man o’ Words, in honour of Robert Burns, Scotland’s most renowned poet. Burns spent the last eight years of his life as a resident of Dumfries, where he worked as an exciseman and frequented the Globe Inn. The town of Annan was on his tour of duty, and the Globe is now under the same ownership as the distillery. Annandale is even an official partner of the Robert Burns World Federation.
Peated Annandale, meanwhile, is labelled as Man o’ Sword, after another famous Scot, King Robert the Bruce. Bruce was the son of the 6th Lord of Annandale and likely spent some time living at the family seat at Lochmaben Castle, just 13 miles from the current location of Annandale Distillery. The Bruce famously led the Scots to their independence, following a series of victories over the English, including the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
While it may seem like a great idea to name whisky after such prominent Scottish figures, I’m just not sure Man o’ Words and Man o’ Sword are particularly catchy names. They don’t exactly roll off the tongue, and the decision to release the distillery’s malt exclusively in single cask format also seems to confuse things somewhat, as there’s no core range for the market to connect and bond with.
I’ve tasted quite a few different bottlings from Annandale over the years, and I hate to say that some have been a wee bit disappointing – but there’s also been some absolute belters. In my experience, the peated version seems to do better than its unpeated counterpart, though admittedly, my tastes tend to lean that way anyway.
Annandale is no doubt an intriguing prospect, and they still seem to be hanging on in there, despite some tough times across the whisky industry, so hopefully their unusual approach is working for them. There’s undoubtedly something about the distillery and its whisky that keeps drawing me back. Maybe the very fact that I can’t quite grasp their vision is part of the intrigue.
The Whisky Barrel Annandale 6 Year Old
This peated Annandale whisky comes from a single first-fill oloroso sherry butt. It’s aged for 6 years and was bottled at a cask strength of 59.7% abv.
Tasting notes: On the nose, it’s all about nutty, raisiny sherry. There are toffee apples, honeycomb, shortbread and some distant smoke. More sweet sherry on the palate with plenty of dried fruits and Golden Syrup. A burst of heat comes through after a few seconds, and it feels a bit harsh, so water might be needed to tone it down. Wee touch of dryness from the oak, and some nice, tingly spice on the finish. Subtle smoke throughout.
Thoughts: This is quite a viscous, heavy-bodied dram at first, though the weight thinned when water was added. It seemed far more delicate afterwards. The water also had a petrichor-like effect, kicking up dusty, musty, ashes. It’s a nice dram if a maybe a wee bit on the overoaked side. Especially as you move into the finish, and, despite the relative feistiness, I think it was probably better before water. The weight of it better supported the bold cask flavour. Young and boisterous but enjoyable enough with it.
Price: £45. An accessible price for a single cask, albeit a very young one.
Visit The Whisky Barrel Here
Visit Annandale Distillery Here
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