Singaporean indie bottler Animal Spirits is celebrating its 4th Anniversary with a trio of Scotch expressions that traverse quite the range, from a 10 year old Staoisha all the way up to a 25 year old Ardmore and a 27 year old Burnside (a teaspooned Balvenie). Yet unlike most anniversaries which really is a euphemism for "let's do it all again next year" - and neither does it feel like a capstone of sorts, the kind that symbolically marks the end of an era - the folks behind Animal Spirits feel almost newborn and hopeful.

The sunny little island in the tropics is home to a fairly small population, and yet in there resides a rather ardent community of spirits fans, a rarefied few of whom break away to start their long journey as an indie bottler - in a world of legendary distilleries and bottlers, it's no small feat establishing oneself. The route to that often dreamt of stature and reputation in this field is long and hard fought, and it all starts with that first bottling. And then expression by expression, bottle by bottle, a name becomes recognised. Yet the spoils of success remains sweeter than ever - to goal is always to be someone's first pick at the bar, to spot ones bottles on a shelf, to see it deified on the Gram. And so the hunt - as ever - is on.

Lion, one of the co-founders of Animal Spirits.

Animal Spirits came to be sometime in 2019, when a trio of friends who had bonded in the local drinks scene decided as many indie bottlers do that this place could use a better selection of drinks. "At the time, we were looking around and asking ourselves where the quality and value was. There wasn't much available and so of course we decided to tap on the folks we knew to start getting our hands on bottlings that we could bring in [to Singapore]" says one of them. At the start, much of Animal Spirits' selection came in the form of partnerships, having worked with a good class of producers and seasoned fellow bottlers, from France's Kornog to Scotland's Glendronach, all the way to Italy's Etalia Spirits and Germany's The Whisky Agency. This helped Animal Spirits hit the ground running and get off to a quick start with some solid bottlings already on hand, riding on the banner of these established names. Many of these expressions were well received and allowed Animal Spirits to start building its name.

Off to a quick start!

2022 would see the emergence of Animal Spirits' first solo bottlings - no partnerships, no collaborators, just total selection of their own - this was titled the Chairman Releases and counted four Scotch expressions, from two Bunnahabhain's (an 11 year old and a 14 year old heavily peated) to a 29 year old Loch Lomond and a 32 year old Tullibardine. They came dressed in uniform labels, black Celtic-styled text on white paper, simply bearing the name "Animal Spirits" and the distilleries they were from. This first true showing was again well released and highly spoken of in local circles - and so Animal Spirits had successfully graduated to standing on their own two feet (or perhaps six, given the three partners). No longer were they standing on the shoulders of giants. They've even since expanded to regional markets including Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan.

The Chairman Releases.

Each passing year has seen a new set of Anniversary bottlings, from a 29 Year Old 1993 Springbank commemorating Year 1, to the now three-piece Essence Of The Sun bottlings that mark the indie bottler's Year 4. And just like that in the short span of several years, the brand has seen the highs and lows of the spirits market, and yet they remain committed. "What will set us apart is our longevity, we want to keep our word and truly be there for drinkers; to be consistently producing bottles every year," says the folks behind Animal Spirits.

When asked what their plan was moving forward, they almost seem to be in a constant state of reinvention. They seem to appreciate the long path ahead of them - they know it as well as anyone - and yet through its twists and turns, they seem to constantly be looking for new ways to reach a greater set of audience. For them, this consists of new forms of brand building, getting folks to actually try the spirits themselves, where they've planned for more in-person sessions for the year ahead, as well as to showcase a wide variety of flavour profiles now collected under their stable. "The good thing is that four years in, we've got a wide variety; we have something for everyone, and that reflects our own selection. We [the folks behind Animal Spirits] represent a range of personally preferred flavour profiles, yet it always starts with whether we're wow-ed by the flavour, and of course we all have to agree on it [for a bottling to happen]".

And so we should hopefully see more to come from the folks at Animal Spirits - heck, we've already heard there's quite a stacked pipeline coming this year! 

Now let's dig into Animal Spirits' 4th Anniversary trio. What's perhaps most eye-catching here is of course the art on the labels. With the many small figures nestled together, they may all seem like the same work of art at first glance, but rather it's more a consistency of style that is spread across a triptych - and so there are three separate panels, each featuring various symbols that represents the founders of Animal Spirits and also some of what they hold close to the brand, along with references to Scottish literary works. The artwork was commissioned to an Indonesian artist, Edrike Joosencia (Instagram here), whose art style the artist herself calls Semmanjala (which means mind, soul and body) and typically consists of many small figures which represents a community. What's even more incredible about Joosencia's art is that it's completely rendered with natural pigments, made from charcoal, tumeric and blue pea, on canvas! So here of course the tumeric is responsible for the warm yellow-browns, whilst the blue pea makes the deep blue tones happen!

Happy 4th Anniversary Animal Spirits!

And so for this commission on Animal Spirits' 4th Anniversary, Joosencia has titled the works Essence Of The Sun. An apt name that I think perfectly encapsulates the hopefulness and desire of Animal Spirits as they forge ahead. "The goal is for this [Animal Spirits] to take a life of its own," they tell me. And to that end, more of my enquiries have resulted in them answering that despite their all-Scotch bottlings so far, they have not ruled out bottling rums or Cognacs, and if things really take off, they would even consider having a storefront for tastings. I look forward to the day that comes!

For now, whiskies ahoy! Let's go!

Whisky Review: Ardmore 1998, 25 Years Old, Animal Spirits 4th Anniversary Essence Of The Sun, 47% ABV

First up, we're starting with the 1998 Ardmore, this is 25 years old, aged in a Hogshead.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Light Honey

Aroma: It opens up heady and rich, taking us down quite some depth here. It's honeyed, yet herbal, with wafts of eucalyptus, along with a supple fruitiness of peach gummies. Cusping it are buds of orange blossoms and chrysanthemum florals. Some flint comes through here as well, with a really subtle soft smoke. Really aromatic.

Taste: More of the smoke and ashiness comes through here in a body of honey and vanilla cream. Medium-bodied, it's body feels very precise and concentrated, almost intensifying into its core. There's more of that almost herbal quality of chrysanthemum tea that emerges more into the finish.

Finish: The ashiness persists here, yet it's really well integrated into that body of honey, none of that acridness or grittiness. No, this is way more sensual, svelte and elegant. That herbal nature carries over as well, here the eucalyptus comes with a side of salinity of oyster shells. Much of the flavours of the palate continues on into the finish, yet here it mellows out nicely, allowing the sweet ashiness and salinity to surface more so. Long and seamless finish.

My Thoughts

I've always had a soft spot for Ardmore's and I continue to maintain that they're incredibly underrated. That combination of honeyed, herbal fruitiness, with just a gentle smoke, has always been one of my favourite Scotch profiles. 

And so here we've got a really nice Ardmore that whilst veritably aged, has kept its freshness remarkably well. It's rich and supple, concentrating those fruit notes into that of peach gummies, accompanied by the classic Ardmore chrysanthemum signature. Onto the palate is where we start to see some result of all that aging - here it's again alot more concentrated, but this time also much more chiselled and almost crystalline, really focused on that honey and chrysanthemum flavour, like a herbal maltose candy almost. It's very precise and with alot of depth and form to it. The finish is where it gets more complex, bringing up salinity and minerality of oyster shells, along with more of that Ardmore sweet ashiness.

An overall really lovely, refined and elegant expression of one of my favourite distilleries, here showing so much precision and concentration. Heads up - this was my favourite of the lot!

Whisky Review: Burnside 1996, 27 Years Old, Animal Spirits 4th Anniversary Essence Of The Sun, 53.6% ABV

Next up, we have the 27 year old 1996 Burnside (that's a teaspooned Balvenie, which is simply Balvenie with a little drop of something else). This one also comes from a Hogshead.   

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber

Aroma: Leaning darker here, it's rich with brown sugar, treacle, weaved in with some raw honey. Some equally dark fruit notes begin to show up, stewed dark cherries, prunes and plums, the sort that's good for pie filling. There's a gentle sweetness about it that comes with fruit reductions and preserves. Along the way some white florals waft about as well.

Taste: It's got a good punchiness here, before it goes deep again with servings of honey mixed in with treacle. It's also alittle herbal here, with eucalyptus and some mintiness of menthol too. Really honeyed actually, which gives it a nice richness. More on those stewed plums and prunes, those classically PX Sherry styled sticky fruit, yet here it shows good restraint. It keeps itself approachable and very moderate - rich, but not overly so. It takes you to the edge then cleanly holds back.

Finish: More of that Sherry, there's that leather, tobacco leaves, cloves, hits of pepper too. It goes on a long run that's carpeted by maltose candies. Some savouriness comes through afterwards, little bit of that rancio of dried sour plums, with some doughiness. Maybe even alittle bit vinous here of sweet Port.

My Thoughts

Really classic Sherry profile here, leading with alot of those denser, darker fruits, with a sweet and rich base of treacle and brown sugar. Yet at the same time it puts out alot of complexity, with white florals and more herbal elements garnishing both the nose and body, which I really enjoyed. Again, given the age, this keeps a remarkable freshness, which slowly evolves into showing more of its age as we get along into the finish, where the leather, spices and rancio begins to emerge.

What I was most impressed by here was that even though it obviously takes on that sweeter style Sherry, giving you all these rich and sticky cooked fruits and preserves, it shows alot of restraint - it delivers all that richness without overdoing it. In that sense, I find this very approachable and friendly, where you get the nicest bits of a sweet Sherry, without the heaviness or cloying effect. Nicely done! This one's definitely a crowd pleaser.

Whisky Review: Staoisha 2013, 10 Years Old, Animal Spirits 4th Anniversary Essence Of The Sun, 58.1% ABV

And last but not least, a Staoisha, which is an extra peaty spirit from Islay's Bunnahabhain. This is 10 years old, from 2013, and also comes from a Hogshead.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Amber 

Aroma: It opens up with soft smoke, alittle medicinal and herbaceous too, with layers of honey seasoned with kombu seaweed. Tucked right beneath is a mellow sweetness of stewed plums and prunes, raisins too, along with some leather. There's alittle bit of rancio here, accompanied by some leafy quality to it, as well as some waxiness that wraps it all up.

Taste: Coming through punchy with great presence, and then mellowing out into a deep richness of stewed Sherry fruits. It leans sweeter of honey, brown sugar, and dark fruit reduction. There's the prunes, plums, dates, cooked down to a simmer. Some black tea too that gives its body more depth. The smoke is really well integrated into the body here, almost massaged in so deeply that it comes in a whole package in the form of grilled dates and figs.

Finish: More on leather and tobacco, some ashiness comes through too. Still persisting with all those stewed Sherry fruits with that deep and mellow, rich sweetness. Maltose candy weaved in there, along with some rancio of dried sour plums.

My Thoughts

Ah I really like this one! This was quite a hit! It has so much verve and energy, it's got this really nice punchiness that gives it so much presence. This feels like a sort of shining new upstart that bursts onto the scene, although I must also say that it feels like it should've been like the two before it - carrying an age that reads of the twenties. It feels alot more mature even with all that vibrance and really has that oomph that captivates and captures your attention. It carries all the hallmarks of a Sherry aged whisky of course, the sweeter, denser and darker stewed and dried fruits, yet here it also integrates so nicely with the smoke and the Islay salinity, putting the two together to create loads of grilled fruits.

This one is quite the belter, it almost ebbs and flows, at times peaking in intensity and then afterwards mellowing out with loads of richness. It's got great cadence and presence - this will spark you right up!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot