Aberargie Expressions - Laureate Edition (48,2% - 700ml)

The Morrison family’s connection with Scotch whisky began in the early twentieth century and passed through Bowmore, Glen Garioch and Auchentoshan, until the group was sold to Suntory in 1994. The return to distillation came in 2016 with the laying of the foundation stone at Aberargie, on the family estate in Perthshire, and on 1 November 2017 with the filling of the first cask. After the sold-out Inaugural Release of March 2026, the distillery now opens a new limited series: Expressions.

The idea behind it is simple and, in some ways, counter-current. Usually, when discussing what gives a whisky its flavour, the conversation ends up focusing on casks and years of maturation. Here the starting point is the barley. The series isolates the two varieties grown on the family estates — Golden Promise and Laureate — and bottles them separately, so that they can be compared for the first time. The Inaugural Release came from a mixed mash bill of 52% and 48%; these two editions are 100% each.

If Golden Promise is the variety of the past, Laureate is that of the present. Fully approved by the Malting Barley Committee in 2017, within a few years it has become the most widely grown spring barley in the United Kingdom: in the 2021 harvest it alone accounted for 48% of British maltsters’ purchases. High yields, consistent quality from season to season, and unanimous acceptance by distillers. It is the barley that, in one way or another, is present in a great deal of contemporary Scotch.

The Aberargie Expressions Laureate Edition is a “barley-to-bottle” single malt Scotch whisky produced entirely on the Morrison estate in Perthshire, distilled from 100% Laureate barley grown on the family farms, matured 68% in first-fill ex-sherry casks and 32% in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, before being bottled at 48.2% vol. without chill filtration.