A few months ago I visited the Cotswolds Distillery and heard all about owner Dan Szor’s passion for whisky and locally-sourced barley. As with many other new English distilleries when they started distilling in 2014 they needed to produce gin alongside their whisky in order to have something to sell while the whisky lay dormant, maturing. Their gin was what first propelled them into the mainstream, winning multiple awards and is arguably what they are best known for, but whisky is truly at the heart of this distillery. Let’s find out if it’s any good…

Bruichladdich's The Classic Laddie stands out as one of the most distinctive and unforgettable bottles in the world of whisky. The striking turquoise bottle, paired with bold, contemporary white font, ensures that it leaves a lasting impression on anyone who encounters it. My return to this whisky was sparked by a recommendation to watch "The Water of Life: A Whisky Film," which delves into Bruichladdich's rise under the stewardship of Jim McEwan and Mark Reynier since their acquisition in 2000. The film peels back the layers of this innovative and pioneering distillery, which set out to be an "antidote to the industry norm." The bottle certainly embodies this ethos—but what about the whisky itself?