17/03/2023
Chapter 7
A chat with...Selim Evin (Chapter 7 Whisky) - #3
When it comes to Chapter 7 in this industry, there is only one possible association to be made.
That’s why this time I had a chat (well, a few actually…) with Selim Evin, who’s the founder and Managing Director of Chapter 7 Whisky Ltd, independent bottling company based in Paisley, Glasgow.
He initially set up the business in 2014, and stayed as the sole employee for the first 5 years , while 45 editions were bottled. The company remained small and mostly as a side activity next to his salaried job until 2019. After which he decided to take things further and partnered with a long-time client for whom he had been procuring and bottling, and an entrepreneur, Sebastian Harding who is as passionate and curious about whisky as he is. In April 2020, they released the first batch of 7 bottlings. A few more people have recently joined them working at the bottling facility opened in 2022 in Glasgow.
Only in 2022 they have bottled around 40 editions, including their partner brands Deer, Bear & Moose and Son of a Peat.
Let’s see what he told us…
Hi Selim, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Please introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about your whisky journey so far.
My whisky encounter dates back to when I was 16. My grandfather was Scottish and he took me on a tour of Scotland. We’d roll up to distilleries, knock on the door – this was long before every distillery had it’s own visitor centre – and I’d be captivated by the language and lore of the spirit, and the mystery of his bottles with the handwritten labels.
When I got to my 18th birthday I started to sample and study in earnest, educating my palate and exploring this infinite world until today…
When and how did you join this growing industry?
The whisky professional adventure started in 2013. By then, I’d been working for 20 years and the 10 last years I had my own sea-food processing business. In 2013 I’d got to 40 and exited this venture and had some time to think about my next move in life.
You know how it is? I was at that stage where I wanted something different and was looking for a change in my life. I’d always wanted to get involved in whisky, since I inherited this hobby and passion from my Scottish grandfather, but I knew very little about the business side and had no contacts.
I had a couple of different ideas in mind and at the end I chose the toughest but the most interesting path of independent bottling. I felt this world was full of interesting companies and people, but there was maybe a lack of focus and a lack of interest in establishing distinctive brands.
The idea of discovering different whiskies, adding new chapters to a “Whisky Anthology” seemed like something I could do for the rest of my life.
The trouble with this business is that it needs a lot of cash…
So, for the first few years I remained in Geneva and stuck with a salaried job as I built my networks and developed the brand. And then in 2019, the need for change came upon me again! I realised that what I really wanted to do was to do Chapter 7 full time.
The business model was to create a partnership with a US independent bottler that I’d been working with, plus an English businessman called Sebastian Harding. With our combined resources we were able to move Chapter 7 to Scotland and establish a facility in Glasgow. In April 2022 we released our first batch of 7 whisky editions with new branding under 3 series: Monologue, Anecdote and Chronicle.
Starting the business in the heart of lockdown wasn’t easy, but this did not inhibit us. My American partners are the biggest online spirit club in the US. They had great experience of working on-line, which was still possible in that period.
Today, I still get a thrill when I see one of our bottles in a store. For me, this is a passion as much as a business. Most independent bottlers come from a whisky industry background. I didn’t.
I started from zero with no contacts in the industry. So, maybe I’m especially proud of what we’ve done.
Now tell us a bit more about Chapter 7, what is it that makes it stand out in the whisky industry?
Chapter 7’s name comes from its function as a brand: compiling assorted whiskies from different distilleries, origins. I first came up with “A WHISKY ANTHOLOGY” in which each edition would be a Chapter, linking the brand to literature.
I then came across Shakespeare’s Monologue in As You Like It called The Seven Ages of Man. I found how Shakespeare depicts each age very similar to whisky ageing in casks and that’s how I chose the number 7.
Design wise I chose a minimalist approach inspired by distillery wall writings and cask end prints. It was very clear from start that I’d use only typography without symbols, images or pictures.
At present, the Chapter 7 offer has four suitably literary-themed levels:
- Monologue is at the core of our brand. All single casks, always interesting.
- Anecdote are small batches, often two to three casks. These are unusual, original offers.
- Chronicle is where we take casks from the same distillery, 900-1000 bottles – and within that we have a selection of finishes and ages, all from the same distillery. Given the demand for quality whisky this is challenging to sustain – but worth it for the interesting variations we find.
- Prologue is an entry level blended malt primarily for the US market. It is my plan to evolve this offer a little. It has a lower price point and uses younger whiskies. Maybe it’s because I’m spoiled but I feel that we could improve this whisky.
This always is the toughest question, I can’t say Chapter7 is very different or unique, but probably what is unique about the brand is the fact that it was created by personal passion, and started as a part time project, without a whisky industry background.
There are many indies doing the same thing in similar ways!
I don’t have a unique selling point as per say. I chose to become an independent bottler only to follow my passion and curiosity, not because it was a logical step in my career following many years of work in this industry with established connections.
I knew quite a lot about whisky but nothing about the whisky business. As I’ve said before, it was a passion project. I think in that sense Chapter 7 is rather different compared to other independent bottlers.
Passion and curiosity makes me tick, and with our own bottling facility (recently opened in Glasgow) and warehouse we’ll be a lot more courageous in experimenting.
Can you tell us what Chapter7's target audience is?
Since the we started, our target audience has been whisky connoisseurs.
When you bottle single casks at high strength, it’s usually people who already tried out OBs (Official Bottlings) and are curious about a new dimension buy your bottles.
We’ve been stepping out of this audience with our Prologue releases for the US market with lower price points and a taste and strength that embraces a bigger audience.
We intend to continue releasing whiskies that speak to a bigger audience in the future.
Can you tell us how you select your casks, and anticipate anything about what we can expect to see next?
When I do my selection, I try to find casks that stand out in the crowd and that don’t necessarily reflect the distillery character to give consumers a new dimension that sets independent bottling apart from OBs.
The best part of the job is visiting the supplier – the meeting, tasting, and socialising. The challenge comes from the fact that whisky in a cask is a live thing. It’s always changing.
We typically order five to seven sister casks. Across that order – ostensibly the same spirit – there will be lots of variations. We’ll use the best for bottling the rest we will use for blending or keep it to see where it goes in time.
In fact, timing is everything for us. We don’t like to tie up the company’s money in stock – it’s important to keep things moving. We like to go from cask to bottle in under a month.
And our target schedule is a new release every three months. But the speed at which orders arrive is not in our control. Especially since the pandemic, delivery times have increased. It can take up to three months for suppliers to deliver. Even at the best of times, big warehouses of half a million casks will move casks around on a fixed schedule. That can hold things up too. Our own warehouse is small, so we have casks we own in other warehouses all over the country. When you need to bring them together to make decisions and to blend, then we can’t start work until all the casks are in place. Frustrating and tricky? Definitely. But there are plenty compensations.
The future will see Chapter 7 consolidate the core business, while exploring other territories.
We’ve had three releases of Irish whiskey and we’re continuing to look at future options. We’re looking at the prices too. We will keep an eye on how things develop. I have my eyes on an Indian single malt. There are regulatory hurdles to overcome, but the whisky itself is very, very nice, so it’s worth the effort!
Being based in France myself, I’ve been visiting lots of French distilleries. Wine finishes are specially interesting. We are also in discussions with French cask suppliers – casks are such a vital part of our operation.
And, because we have a US element to the company, we’re speaking to an amazing range of US craft distilleries. There are some excellent whiskies in the US that are waiting to be discovered by Scotch drinkers.
We will surely focus on these too, and there will be more blended malts blended by Chapter 7.
What advice would you give to a beginner that is approaching this world and perhaps starting his/her own collection?
Start with OBs. They are cheaper and are more accessible in terms of taste and strength. They are more educational if you’re starting to discover different distillery taste profiles.
Once you think you’ve covered enough OBs you can take the step to discover a new dimension with Independent Bottlers (IBs). You will find casks that won’t reflect the distillery character or wood finishes that haven’t been released OBs.
Now that’s a new world!
Lastly, what is, generally speaking, your favourite whisky style (cask type, ageing, peated/unpeated etc.)? What’s your dram of choice at the moment and/or your go to drams on a Friday evening?
I have a classic taste. I love bourbon aged whiskies.
When it comes to sherried whiskies, I’m a fan of older malts that have been aged in old bodega casks for a long time. Not a fan of younger whiskies finished for colour.
I like whiskies that tell a different story each time you go back to them. For that sort of complexity and hidden layers, you need time and good wood.
I didn’t like peated whiskies when I was young. I started liking them with older expressions where peat stops dominating the flavour and blends into the overall palate. Now I enjoy younger ones as well (smile).
Dram of choice? I receive a lot of samples and buy quite a lot of bottles.
When I’m in a quiet place and in a relaxed mood, I go for complex drams and try to analyse the whisky in depth. If I’m cooking, socialising etc, I go for easier but enjoyable stuff like Spice Tree or our younger single malts and blended malts.
Official website: https://chapter7whisky.com/
Drams
and more...
Today's drams
- Tobermory 1994 (28yo) – Monologue – 52.0%
- Knockdhu 2006 (16yo) – Monologue – 51.5%
- Teaninich 2008 (13yo) – 47.4%
- Orkney 2006 (16yo) – Monologue – 54%
- Orkney Whitlaw 2014 (8yo) – Monologue – 52.8%