14/04/2023

Chapter 13

A chat with... Danny Saltman and Saul Taylor (DS Tayman) - #9

DS Tayman is a unique independent Scotch single malt bottler, the company was founded in 2020 by the Londoners, and long-time friends, Danny Saltman and Saul Taylor. All their whiskies are kosher and carry hechshers product certificates a stamp, symbol or label denoting that a product is conform with the traditional Jewish dietary laws (see Wikipedia).

They only bottle malt whisky aged in single casks, which are then individually paired with a complementary Israeli wine or port finish, to give each dram its own special character, which can’t be recreated as their motto says.

You might have noticed them on the shelves of bars and shops, as their design and packaging really stands out with their monochromatic flashy colours.

They also own Dalkeith Brokerage, DS Tayman’s parent company, which provides whisky casks and rare bottles for trade.

Let’s see what they told us…

Hi Danny and Saul, 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.

DS: I’m Danny Saltman (pictured above on the right), co-founder of DS Tayman and I love whisky. I tried my first dram was when I was 8 years old – as a cheeky little Essex boy, I waited for my grandfather to turn his back and downed his dram, was sick everywhere, sent to my room and since then I was in love.

My background is in the wine and alcohol industry, so for me, bottling my own scotch has always been a dream. I’ve always loved the process of whisky production – the fact that it starts with such simple ingredients, and looks like water – but that the interaction of the liquid with the wood and different finishes can create something so special.

ST: My name is Saul Taylor (pictured above on the left), also co-founder of DS Tayman. Just like Danny my journey with whisky started young, watching my grandfather; a decorated serviceman in WW2 sharing a glass of Scotch with his buddies. This is what I love about whisky is the community aspect – it brings people together, whether it’s friends, family, whisky geeks and beyond, community is a major part of everything we do.

My background is not in the alcohol industry though, it’s in finance. Danny and I decided to partner up and create DS Tayman; as we could see the benefits of uniting our finance / business and wine / whisky knowledge.

When and how did you join this growing industry?

The first DS Tayman release was in the height of the pandemic – September 2020, which of course brought it’s own unique challenges! We were severely limited in what we could do, and had to do much of the work remotely – which, when it comes to packaging etc was very difficult.

Thankfully, despite this, the whisky was so well received that we were soon bottling our 2nd, 3rd and now 4th expressions!

Now tell us a bit more about DS Tayman, what is it that makes them stand out in the whisky industry?

Let’s start with our name, which is a mashup of both of our names – D for Danny, S for Saul, and Tayman is a combination of our surnames Taylor and Saltman. We chose this name as we wanted our brand to become a legacy for our families and generations to come.

What makes us completely unique? We are the only Independent Bottler that uses exclusively kosher certified wine barrels for our finishes. What does this mean? Well we are both Jewish, and according to kosher dietary laws – wine has to be certified kosher in order for observant Jews to drink it. This is because wine is used for sacramental and religious purposes, and is a major part of any Jewish celebration.

As we know, the majority of the colour and flavour of whisky comes from the wood – so many rabbis, particularly in America and Israel question whether whisky that has been matured in non-kosher wine or sherry cask is allowed.

With our connections to some fabulous kosher wineries around the world, we saw an opportunity to bring high quality Scotch, matured in high quality wine barrels to the Jewish market that had potentially never tasted anything like it.

Whisky aside – we wanted to stand out, and when you look at our packaging I think you can see we definitely do that. We’re both a little crazy, so wanted our packaging to be bold, different and bright – we didn’t want to look like everyone else, and the packaging really spoke to the emerging, younger whisky drinkers.

Whisky is no longer an “old man’s” drink, and we wanted our packaging to speak to people of all ages (18+ of course).

Can you tell us what DS Tayman's target audience is?

Following on from the above, originally our target market was to Jewish communities based mainly in USA and Israel. However, given the quality of our Scotch; we quickly began winning awards from within the mainstream whisky world, and we branched out to the rest of the world.

We are now sold in places such as Taiwan, China, Australia, Panama, Holland, Germany, Italy amongst many others.

Can you tell us how you select your casks, and anticipate anything about what we can expect to see next?

So what’s really interesting, and this was one of our core ideals when we started – most people know the major distilleries, but there are roughly 130 distilleries in Scotland, and some of those less well known distilleries are making amazing Scotch.

For example, Linkwood – they produce outstanding liquid and we wanted to give distilleries like them the opportunity to shine. So, we like to take these distilleries, and with our passion and love of the liquid – matching them with the perfect wine cask, giving them a unique and different flavour. We have travelled the world sourcing the right barrels to match to the whisky, and once they start maturing we draw samples every 6-8 weeks, ensuring we are happy with the flavour.

Big things are coming… our current range are all 12 year olds, but for our next release we’re bumping it up a few years, which should be available this time next year. After that we have some much older stock, maturing in really funky and exciting casks (which we can’t reveal at this stage).

We love experimenting with different finishes and seeing how they interact with the scotch and impact the flavour. As we move to the older stock, you can expect some more well known, bigger brands.

What advice would you give to a beginner that is approaching this world and perhaps starting his/her own collection?

Buy DS Tayman whisky first of all! (smile) Otherwise, try as diverse a range of whiskies that you can – different regions, ages, finishes, ABVs.

A great way to try whisky is to visit your local whisky bar, attend tastings so that you educate your palate. Once you’ve done this, you’ll learn to know what you like – and buy accordingly. Whisky is made to be drunk, our slogan is “to be enjoyed with the people you love, value and appreciate the most” – and for us, this is the main thing. So if you’re going to start a collection, buy whisky that you would like to drink so if you have something really special, you’ll be happy to pop it open with your nearest and dearest.

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?

ST: For me, on a Friday night, out of our current products I would say our Blair Athol – it’s got that complexity to it which needs to be appreciated over a meal, where you can take your time and really enjoy every layer.

If I had to choose a non-DS Tayman product, I really like the older age statements (21+) Glenfarclas – it’s really great whisky, that they’ve also kept affordable which in this market is rare. You can tell they have a passion for whisky and by keeping it at lower price points it means they want it to be drunk and I really appreciate that.

The main thing I look for is the quality of the wood – you can really taste the difference and I feel if it’s been in good wood, the age is less important.

DS: I’m an Islay man, I love peated; so, for me it’s got to be our Caol Ila – if you can get hold of it!

From other brands, it really depends on my mood but I’m currently enjoying Lagavulin 11-year-old – the Offerman edition finished in a Guiness Barrel which is really beautiful.

I don’t have an age preference – I like to take each whisky as it comes, I’ve tried some great younger products so I’m not particular about age.

Chapter 13

A chat with... Danny Saltman and Saul Taylor (DS Tayman) - #9

Hi Danny and Saul, 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.

When and how did you join this growing industry?

Now tell us a bit more about DS Tayman, what is it that makes them stand out in the whisky industry?

Can you tell us what DS Tayman's target audience is?

Can you tell us how you select your casks, and anticipate anything about what we can expect to see next?

What advice would you give to a beginner that is approaching this world and perhaps starting his/her own collection?

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?

Drams

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Today's drams