Times Takes Unique Tack On Scotch Tourism

Sunday's travel section of The New York Times carried an article on visiting independent bottlers in Scotland--an interesting alternative to visiting Scotch distilleries. Independent bottlers, or "IB's," or "indies," constitute a cottage industry that has grown up in the spirits business wherein a merchant that is not connected with any particular distilling company buys casks from a distillery and ages and bottles those casks himself, oftentimes providing the market with rare products--for instance, much older whiskey than would otherwise be avaliable from the particular distilleries themselves. Although Scotch distilleries have, on some level, been tourist attractions for decades, I credit the Times for the originality of documenting this trip to the plants of merchant-bottlers.