A chat with... Andrew Macdonald-Bennett (Goldfinch Whisky) - #18

I founded Goldfinch Whisky Merchants in 2018 knowing that there was a lot I knew and a lot I had to learn. However, doing it well was always going to come first. We started by bottling casks for Mey Selections and served King Charles a dram at the Mey Games in 2019.

My wife Ros became involved in the business and together we spend a lot of time, effort and money ensuring the casks we use, the spirit we buy, the finishes we apply to packaging are the best they can be. We have grown our catalogue of brands to allow us to put our own stamp on the spirits we bottle and to tell a story. I think this makes us stand apart from other Indies who focus on a single brand.

We currently have three brands produced by Goldfinch Whisky:

1. Goldfinch – This includes our original series, ‘The Bodega Series’ and our newest range ‘The Wine Series’. For our Bodega range, we selected five single casks of unpeated Speyside and Highland malts, mainly at 13 or 14 year old. The range name, “Bodega Series”, identifies our dedication to use only the finest sherry casks which previously held Oloroso, Amontillado or PX to mature our whisky and further develop the character. For our Wine Series, we selected 5 sherry hogsheads containing Blair Athol single malt scotch whisky. We then sourced and imported 5 different wine casks from Europe and reracked the single casks into the wine barrels to create our “Wine Series”. Our objective was to create a range that allowed a whisky connoisseur to explore the effects of finishing on the same single malt. We selected a Marsala Oak Pipe, a Tawny Port Pipe, two red wine barriques from different first growth Chateaux and a sweet white wine from Germany.
2. Paloma – We created Paloma to show the expansive influence different types of sherries can have on a variety of single malt whiskies. This series has 4 bottlings from ex-Palo Cortado casks. By focusing on the Spanish connection in terms of art, sherry and the name; Paloma means ‘Dove’ in Spanish, we have created something that is beautiful, timeless and tastes incredible.
3. The Kilnsman’s Dram – Peated whisky in a black bottle which challenges the consumer not to judge a whisky by its colour. The brand celebrates the dedication and experience of the Kilnsman in days gone by. When you see the thumbprint on the bottle, you know the Kilnsman’s would have approved of the spirit quality included in the bottle. We have chosen a selection of peated casks finished in first fill Oloroso European oak.

Our whisky is available by the dram in The Gleneagles Hotel, The Fife Arms (Bertie’s), The Cameron House and The George Hotel along with specialist retailers in the UK, with a few including Carnegie’s Whisky Cellars, The Green Welly, Master of Malt, Barrels and Botanicals, and Aberdeen Whisky Shop. We also export to Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, Europe, Norway and many other countries.