SHEEP DIP 8yo

In 2005 Whyte & Mackay chief operating office Alex Nicol decided to venture out on his own, establishing the Fife-based Spencerfield Spirits Company and persuading his former employers to let him take Sheepi dip (and its stablemate Pig’s Nose) with him.

Sheep Dip is a small batch, handcrafted, premium blended malt Scotch whisky. It marries together single malt whiskies from around Scotland in an enigmatically refined blend that packs plenty of punch.

Inspired by a long history of entrepreneurial Scottish farmers taking distillation into their own hands, this rich and fruity blended malt whisky pays homage to an era where these illicit spirits traded hands across Scotland, via farmers merchants from the Islands to Speyside. Where quality and community came before the excise man, and where a barrel of “Sheep Dip” held liquid-gold for those select few who knew where to look.

Sheep Dip was first bottled by a gentleman farmer and publican as his in-house whisky around 1974. The Original Oldbury Sheep Dip, as it was known, was an 8-year-old blend of 16 single malts and still adheres to the same recipe today.

Blending and bottling was carried out by George Morton Ltd in Montrose, and as the brand developed it was eventually acquired by the Invergordon Distillers Group, which itself became part of Whyte & Mackay during a hostile yet drawn-out takeover in 1993.

In 2005 Whyte & Mackay chief operating office Alex Nicol decided to venture out on his own, establishing the Fife-based Spencerfield Spirits Company and persuading his former employers to let him take Sheepi dip (and its stablemate Pig’s Nose) with him.

However Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, continued to oversee the blending of the brand. Spencerfield, which also notably created the Edinburgh Gin brand, was in turn taken over by Ian Macleod Distillers in late 2016.

The recipe of 16 Highland and Speyside malts is said to have stayed the same since its inception, and although it doesn’t carry an age statement, it’s claimed the malts used are up to 20 years old. Despite the use of mature whiskies, Sheep Dip is still a sprightly blended malt, with a floral nose and malty, warming character. Brand extensions have so far included Sheep Dip Islay, 1999 Amoroso Oloroso and 1990 Old Hebridean variations.