Scotland’s Annandale Distillery has unveiled its first 10-year-old single malt whiskies, marking a significant achievement for the restored Lowland producer that reopened just over a decade ago.
The distillery released two single cask expressions on March 27: Man O’Words 10-Year-Old Fresh Ex-Bourbon Cask #125 and the peated Man O’Sword 10-Year-Old Fresh Ex-Bourbon Cask #69. Both whiskies retail at £110 (approx. $150) and are bottled at cask strength without chill filtration.
The whiskies are currently available in the UK, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. U.S. availability is expected by the end of September 2025.
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Annandale’s Historic Revival Reaches New Heights
The releases represent a major milestone for the independent distillery in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway. Originally founded in 1836 as one of Scotland’s first legal distilleries, Annandale ceased production in the early 20th century before being revived in 2014 by Professor David Thomson and Teresa Church.
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Located eight miles north of the English border, the distillery produces both peated and unpeated single malts. Man O’Words represents the unpeated range, while Man O’Sword continues the distillery’s historic tradition of peated whisky production, a style for which it gained recognition as early as 1887.
The late Dr. Jim Swan, a renowned whisky consultant, helped design the distillery’s setup, incorporating twin copper spirit stills to maximize copper contact and enhance fruity characteristics in the spirit. The distillery focuses exclusively on single cask releases, with each cask evaluated individually and bottled when deemed ready.
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Both 10-year-old releases matured in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks from Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky. The Man O’Words expression offers official tasting notes of stewed apple, pears, apricot, coconut, vanilla, toffee, and floral hints. The peated Man O’Sword presents subtle woodsmoke, Granny Smith apple, vanilla, cream soda, wood spice, and parma violets.
The whisky names pay homage to local history. Man O’Sword honors King Robert the Bruce, the 7th Lord of Annandale, while Man O’Words, an anagram of Man O’Sword, celebrates poet Robert Burns, who lived in nearby Dumfries.
“Ten years into our journey, we are incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved,” said Professor David Thomson, co-founder of Annandale Distillery. “We’re excited to have the flexibility to release remarkable age statement single cask, single malt scotch whiskies, each offering true distinction across a variety of casks. Some may call single cask, single malt the simplest way of making whisky but, for us, it is the most honest. And that’s exactly how we like it.”
Both expressions are limited releases, with Cask #125 yielding 234 bottles and Cask #69 producing 224 bottles. The commitment to single cask bottling means each release offers a unique snapshot of Annandale’s evolving whisky production.
Keep an eye on The Whiskey Wash for more details of upcoming U.S. availability.
