Did you know? Have you heard? Firkin Whisky Co produces some of the finest single malt Scotch whisky. Why is that you’re wondering? The response is simple. The world’s current leading Scotch specialist, Mike Collings, is the founder and creator of some of the finest single malt scotch at The Firkin Whisky Company located in Scotland, United Kingdom.
Following one of the most historically illustrious careers in the Scotch industry, Mike Collings decided that it was time for something completely amazing. With over four decades of experience working at the top end of the Scotch industry creating some of our favourite and the most famous whiskies, such as Johnnie Walker Blue and Johnnie Walker Green while acting instrumentally in the ascendancy of Cardhu, Royal Lochnager, The Classic Malts, Rare Malts, Distillers Edition, and the Flora and Fauna Series (Reference: Glass Revolution), Mr. Collings branched out in pursuit of creating the absolute best whiskies available for consumer consumption making these whiskies both inviting and approachable. As such, independent bottler “The Firkin Whisky Company” was established in 2019, which as you can only imagine makes firkin good whisky.
In 1972 a young Mike Collings started working with Courage Brewing Group which gave him an inside look into the technical side of producing alcohol. Some of his fondest memories from those early days is when he worked in historic pubs, including one dating all the way back to 1610. A few years later Mike moved from the domestic market into the international one when he joined United Distillers which later merged the top two spirits companies in the world to form Diageo.
Quote: Glass Revolution Imports Inspired Spirits
The Firkin Whisky Company creates four perfect drams: Firkin 49, Firkin Islay, Firkin Rare, and Firkin Ten. What makes these drams idyllic is the manner in which they are created. The Firkin takes already amazing whisky and perfects it with barrel aging. One pictures says 1000 words. Have a look at the photo descriptions to learn how The Firkin takes great whisky and perfects it.
Firkin 49 was created using a 2012 Tullibabardine matured in a first fill Bourbon barrel and combining this with two sherries, a 50/50 combination of Amontillado and Oloroso.
This is a soft and somewhat creamy whisky. We paired this Tullibardine with two styles of sherry: nutty Amontillado and a rich Oloroso. Edgar Alan Poe made Amontillado sherry famous. It is a fascinating evolution of the Fino sherry style. The Flor process (yeast fermentation & covering in the barrel) produced both sherry styles. But the Amontillado goes a step further. Amontillado’s ageing and oxidation develops into a unique dry & nutty flavour.
Quote: The Firkin Whisky Company
Firkin Islay is the result of a Caol Isla 2008, a peated smoky dram, with Marsala, which resembles sherry in that it is a dark, sweet fortified dessert wine. Marsala is produced in Sicily. Click on this link for a charming and delightful YouTube short film on Marsala wine.
The flavours fuse together in our custom cask. Our unique process mellows and softens the peat. Firkin Islay is a new take on a classic Islay whisky! Firkin Islay Caol Ila won a gold medal in the Whiskies of the World awards in the peated whiskies category. But that doesn’t come as a massive surprise.
We use Caol Isla for the Firkin Islay which is on the north east coast of Islay overlooking the straits of Jura which is a stunning location and it provides us with a magical salt & smoky profile which we “mate” with Marsala from the island of Sicily. There is something very special about Islands and this is encapsulated in every bottle of Firkin Islay
Quote: The Firkin Whisky Company
Firkin Rare pairs an Aultmore 2010 with a tawny port and ages this incredible combination in Firkin custom casks.
So why pair Aultmore with Tawny port? Tawny Ports age in casks, rather than large tanks or bottles like their Ruby counterparts. This gives them a lighter body and colour as well as a silkier style. The Tawny flavours melt into the Aultmore spirit in our custom cask.
Our casks use American first-fill bourbon and new French Limousin oak staves. After we combine the staves, we burn the inside to make custom char. Our double oak cask creates an exceptional flavour profile with Tawny port.
The result is a dram that reflects the best of both worlds; something Firkin Rare to savour.
Quote: The Firkin Whisky Company
Firkin Ten blends Benrinnes with what the distillery describes as “the tangy and spicy richness of Portuguese Madeira wine.” There is such a wonderfully charming history behind Madeira. Please do take a moment to watch the YouTube –> here.<– This glorious blend was matured in one of Firkin’s custom casks. The wood for these casks is derived from the Limousin region of France.
What’s a Firkin French Limousin oak stave? In France, there are five official forests where they cut oak to make barrels. Limousin is one of them. Coopers cut the oak into staves which dry for two years. After the staves are dried, they do a custom char for us. The char is a light toast that has sweet oak and a touch of mocha. Limousin oak is loose-grained, which helps the oak characteristics seep into our whisky.
Why should you care about Madeira? A few wineries produce Madeira on a small island in Portugal. The small island is, by a strange coincidence that’s baffled cartographers for generations, called Madeira. Because of its location off the west coast of Africa, the island was an important stopover for ships on their way to the East Indies or the Americas. They loaded the ships with wine and, to ensure it would keep, they added some grape spirit. The fortified wine was exposed to high heat and evaporation on the journey. The exposure led to accelerated ageing and oxidation. Merchants discovered the effect when a ship returned with a few barrels on board. The fortified wine transformed into a rich, concentrated and spicy wine. Today winemakers replicate this voyage with a unique process called estufa. It’s cheaper than sending the wine to America and back on a sailboat. The process replicates the long ocean voyages. But with fewer pirates. Some pirates. But not as many.
By adding Madeira to our custom cask, it imparts creamy, tangy & spicy notes to our whisky. It is Firkin amazing; rich and lively.
Quote: The Firkin Whisky Company
If you weren’t already impressed enough with Firkin whisky this next part of the blog post is where things get really great. I had the esteemed opportunity to correspond with Mr. Collings via email and it is with deepest respect and gratitude that I am able to present to you his personal responses to a series of interview questions regarding his acclaimed career in the whisky industry as well as his experiences at The Firkin Whisky Company. Please, sit back, relax and enjoy a truly once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from the hand of the master himself, Mr. Mike Collings, an icon of Scotch history.
With over 40 years experience in the whisky industry making some of the best brands known to the world there would have been numerous names to choose from for your personal whisky company. Where did the idea for The Firkin come from and what does this title mean to you personally?
Guess the name came from a combo of a few things. My dad used to have a favourite ditty “ Christmas comes but once a perkin and when it does I’m firkin working”. I celebrated this with the attached Christmas card. I thought that Malt Whisky needed a new approach it should be about having fun and enjoying great malt in good company. Firkin whilst being the name of a small barrel ( about 9 imperial gallons but never used for whisky) was a great name for what I had in mind and importantly had endless opportunities to convey fun, be a tad mischievous and create a new approach to Single malt Whisky.
As you can see from the attached and our website we are hopefully making folk smile whilst enjoying some great Firkin drams.
When you say born in Japan and bred in Scotland what does this statement mean for The Firkin?
I met up a guy called Robin Tucek ( Blackadder Whisky ) who I hadn’t seen for some 35 years ( last time we met was on Speyside ) in Tokyo and over a few drams agreed that malt whisky was getting too serious and time for a new approach.
So, I thought there’s life in this old dog still – why not combine some flavour innovation with a new approach. Something that makes folk smile and is a tad mischievous. I wanted to deliver a sense of humour along with some great depth of flavours.
How to enjoy new malt whisky without being too serious… life’s too short… make it a tad zany and more fun……..hence the Firkin Whisky Co was born in Japan. As it all single cask , single malt from Scotland the tag line became
Born in Tokyo…….Bred in Scotland ……Enjoyed most everywhere…….Firkin Awesome Single malt
It is clear from your lovely website that taking a non-serious and lighthearted approach to a seriously exceptional dram is important to The Firkin. What was it about your experience in the whisky industry that encouraged you to incorporate a relaxed environment as part of The Firkin whisky company?
I have had some 40 years in the whisky industry and the real standout moments have been ones where it was either a humorous occasion or had been with folk who enjoyed the zany, mischievous approach . It’s in my DNA so taking this relaxed approach and wry sense of humour and applying it to enjoying Malt whisky was a natural way to go. Life’s too short to be serious so let’s enjoy ourselves drinking and sharing some great drams.
The Firkin Ten is known for aging in Madeira and double oak. With over 40 years making the highest quality whisky in the world, in your opinion which casks should be the most sought after in the business, does this vary at all by Scotch region depending on the desired results, and for you what is your dream wood or combination of woods for aging and/or finishing and why?
All of the industry uses ex bourbon, sherry or even wine barrels to add or change the flavour profile of their whisky.
I decided to innovate doing things differently. Firstly combining two different kinds of stave into a custom made cask using first fill bourbon and new French oak with a custom char. Secondly matching the distillery single malt to a style of fortified wine that would enhance the flavour development in a special way………we call this soulmate pairing. Kinda romantic but its an art not a science so an apt description.
End result is we get a very special version of the original.
Your website makes note of custom casks at The Firkin. How do you finalize your decision on what the creation of your custom casks will look like including the uniquely defining characteristics they offer to The Firkin whiskies?
Each of our casks is a custom build using two types of wood/staves. This unique wood profile is the base for all of our single malt. I choose a special type of fortified wine that will match that particular whisky and that’s what we call soulmate pairing. With our Firkin 49 the Tullibardine distillery we have chosen for this particular release uses a unique combination of Oloroso sherry, which provides richness and Amontillado which adds a drier , nuttier flavour. End result is something that’s soft and nutty…….simply lip smacking delicious.
Reading a description of the four scotches offered at The Firkin one notices quickly that the company takes already amazing scotch and using its custom casks creates changes resulting in the company’s unique and signature style scotches. There are so many outstanding scotches. Of all of the greatness available, how did you decide on those scotches which you have chosen to put into The Firkin Four: Firkin 49; Firkin Islay; Firkin Rare; and the Firkin Ten?
It really falls into four broad taste profiles . For Firkin Ten I will select a 10yo single malt that I think will marry up with spicy Madeira .With Firkin 49 choose a soft malt so that it can interweave with the Oloroso & Amontillado sherries. Firkin Islay speaks for itself as I love the smoky peat flavours that go well with Marsala. Firkin Rare will depend on what distilleries I think are somewhat unusual or I can create something pretty unique and difficult to find…..hence Firkin Rare
The Firkin Four takes a really interesting approach to creating fuller flavour in single malt. With so many distilleries producing a plethora of styles of scotch what makes The Firkin really stand out is that it is intimately committed to creating the very best four drams possible. What is it that made you know four is the magic number? I can’t resist wondering, are there any plans to add a fifth Firkin?
Always wanted to emulate the famous four …….Beatles……Abba ……..only kidding. Happy accident , started with two then added a third, and then wanted an Islay so another famous four.
Maybe five. That’s a possibility as I have some interesting left field stuff in development. Lets see what happens.
Creamy is a word that gets used often when describing the texture and experience of Firkin whisky. It isn’t a word you hear often regarding a whisky’s description. It is a word reserved for the best. Without giving away trade secrets, what is your approach to ensuring a velvety palate and finish with The Firkin Scotch?
Creamy, luscious, velvety all convey the flavour and mouthfeel experience that Firkin brings to Single malt. We go to great lengths to create this flavour dimension adding and enhancing the original whisky.
Our combination of custom cask and soulmate pairing creates the flavour profile and then I gauge when the whisky is ready by tasting each cask every six months. Not exactly hard yards but the only way to know when its right to release.
The Firkin founder, Mike Collings, is the mastermind behind the famous Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch whisky. When you set out to create the best blended Scotch ever, which factors were taken into consideration before making your final choices?
We wanted to reflect the style of whiskies that were used in J. Walker proud history and we were lucky enough to have some of Sir Alexander Walker notebooks on blending/selecting whiskies.
The brief to our master blenders was to create a depth of flavour unlike any other drawing on the largest mature stocks in Scotland. The result was a masterpiece of the blenders art and proudly fulfilled the statement carried on every Blue label ‘’ Our blend cannot be beat.”
Given your long and illustrious career, one that has helped shaped Scottish history for the past several decades, where do you see The Firkin in 20 years and how will its presence continue to impact the Scotch industry and Scottish history?
Goodness that’s a difficult one to answer. Hopefully Firkin has in some small measure helped a new a wave of folk into enjoying Single malt and having fun sharing drams. I trust the lasting legacy of Firkin is the ability to make folk smile whilst enjoying some brilliant whiskies…….simply Firkin Awesome.
Last but certainly not least, with such a long career to look back on, which whisky was your favourite to create and why is that?
Guess that would be a combination of The Classic Malts and the Classic Malts Distillers Edition.
Both allowed me to explore in depth the huge variation in Malt Whisky, to work with some really talented & hugely interesting people across distilleries, production, designers and markets to develop and introduce the brand(s) to over 100 markets………an amazing journey which is still continuing.
Cheers ……Mike
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