The Leith Bond single cask series has a new batch, four distilleries, four idioms on the labels, and not a drop of it distilled in Leith. Port of Leith Distillery has added a new batch to its Leith Bond series, and it is a neat reminder of how a young distillery builds a whisky reputation before its own spirit is old enough to sell.
The four releases are a heavily peated Bunnahabhain (bottled under the Staoisha name), a Highland Ben Nevis, a Speyside Benriach, and a Royal Brackla issued as Cawdor Springs. Three are 12 years old and one is 8, all single casks, all non-chill filtered with no added colouring, all 70cl. Prices run from £65 to £96. Outturns are small, between 205 and 302 bottles per cask, so none of these will be around for long.
The key facts up front
Every bottle in this batch is a single cask single malt at natural colour, non-chill filtered, bottled at cask strength or close to it.
| Staoisha (Bunnahabhain) | Ben Nevis | Benriach | Cawdor Springs (Royal Brackla) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Islay | Highland | Speyside | Highland |
| Age | 12 years | 12 years | 12 years | 8 years |
| Cask | Refill PX hogshead | Second-fill Oloroso hogshead | Refill bourbon | Refill bourbon, Fino finish |
| ABV | 52% | 52% | 54.5% | 54.5% |
| Bottles | 302 | 300 | 205 | 230 |
| Price | £96 | £85 | £79 | £65 |
| Name | To Go Pear Shaped | Step Back in Time | Go the Extra Mile | Seal of Approval |
What is Leith Bond, and why bottle other distilleries?
Port of Leith Distillery is Scotland’s first vertical distillery, a nine-storey tower in Edinburgh’s historic Leith harbour, founded by Paddy Fletcher and Ian Stirling and operational since 2023. Their own single malt is still a few years from release, which is where Leith Bond comes in.
Leith Bond is the warehouse and blending arm of the distillery, and the name is deliberate. Leith was once the heart of Scotland’s drinks trade, the port where whisky was landed, blended, bonded and shipped out to the world. Bottling single casks from established distilleries under that banner does two things at once: it gives the team something to release now, and it plants the operation squarely in Leith’s history as a blending and bonding town rather than just a distilling one.
For the drinker, the practical point is simpler. These are independent bottlings, single casks chosen and finished by the Leith Bond team, at strengths and in cask types you rarely see from the distilleries’ own core ranges.
The four whiskies
Staoisha (Bunnahabhain) 12 Year Old, “To Go Pear Shaped”
Staoisha is the name used for Bunnahabhain’s peated Islay spirit, and this one has spent 12 years in a refill Pedro Ximénez hogshead. The label plays on Bunnahabhain’s famously pear-shaped stills.
Nose: damp peat, dark chocolate, banana bread, smoked bacon, maple syrup Palate: burnt toast, cloves, star anise, deep sherry sweetness Finish: long, smoky, bold ABV: 52% | Cask: Refill PX hogshead | Bottles: 302 | Price: £96
Ben Nevis 12 Year Old, “Step Back in Time”
A Highland single malt from the Fort William distillery, matured in a second-fill Oloroso hogshead. Ben Nevis is loved for its old-school, savoury, slightly meaty character, and this cask leans right into it.
Nose: grilled pears, prosciutto, tobacco, sea-salted caramel, roasted pineapple, hazelnuts Palate: sultanas, stracciatella yoghurt, a meaty edge that says Ben Nevis Finish: bold and textured ABV: 52% | Cask: Second-fill Oloroso hogshead | Bottles: 300 | Price: £85
Benriach 12 Year Old, “Go the Extra Mile”
A honeyed, fruity Speyside single malt from a refill bourbon barrel. The name nods to Benriach’s history: when the distillery itself was silent between 1900 and 1965, its floor maltings kept running to supply malted barley to nearby Longmorn.
Nose: dried orange peel, fresh honey, malt sweetness, a hint of Walnut Whip cream Palate: toffee, overripe mango, dried herb butter Finish: long and sweet ABV: 54.5% | Cask: Refill bourbon barrel | Bottles: 205 | Price: £79
Cawdor Springs (Royal Brackla) 8 Year Old, “Seal of Approval”
The youngest and the cheapest, and arguably the most interesting cask construction of the four. Distilled at Royal Brackla, matured eight years in refill bourbon, then finished in a Fino sherry hogshead for a bright, coastal, savoury profile. Royal Brackla was the first distillery ever granted a royal warrant, under King William IV, 110 years before Royal Lochnagar got its own.
Nose: lemon citrus, chamomile, delicate nutty notes Palate: olive oil richness, a touch of coastal salinity Finish: dry, briny, warmly persistent ABV: 54.5% | Cask: Refill bourbon, Fino sherry finish | Bottles: 230 | Price: £65
Price and availability
All four are available through the Port of Leith online shop at shop.leithdistillery.com, priced £65 to £96 (roughly €75 to €111 at current rates). UK orders over £75 ship free. International buyers should confirm shipping to their country at checkout, as availability outside the UK can vary.
With outturns of 205 to 302 bottles, single casks like these move quickly, so check live stock before setting your heart on a particular one.
Our verdict: which one is for you?
The Staoisha at £96 is the headline act and the priciest, and it earns it if peat plus PX is your thing: this is the classic Islay-meets-sherry combination done at a proper strength. The Ben Nevis is for drinkers who like their sherry casks savoury and meaty rather than sweet, and £85 for a 12-year-old single cask Ben Nevis at 52% is fair.
The Benriach is the crowd-pleaser, all honey, orange and toffee from a refill bourbon cask, and the easiest of the four to recommend to someone who does not chase peat or heavy sherry. But the value pick is the Cawdor Springs at £65. A bourbon-matured, Fino-finished 8-year-old Royal Brackla at 54.5% is an unusual, bright, briny dram, and it is the cheapest way into the series.
If you can only take one, take the Cawdor Springs for the price and the profile, and the Staoisha if budget is no object and you want the biggest whisky in the set.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Leith Bond single cask series? Leith Bond is the independent bottling and blending arm of Port of Leith Distillery in Edinburgh. It selects and bottles single casks from established Scottish distilleries while the distillery’s own single malt matures. This 2026 batch covers four single casks from Bunnahabhain, Ben Nevis, Benriach and Royal Brackla.
How much do the Leith Bond single casks cost? Prices run from £65 to £96 for a 70cl bottle. The Cawdor Springs (Royal Brackla) 8 Year Old is £65, the Benriach 12 Year Old is £79, the Ben Nevis 12 Year Old is £85, and the Staoisha (Bunnahabhain) 12 Year Old is £96. That is roughly €75 to €111 at current exchange rates.
Are these whiskies cask strength? They are single casks bottled at high strength: the two 12-year-olds from Bunnahabhain and Ben Nevis are 52% ABV, and the Benriach and Cawdor Springs are 54.5% ABV. All four are non-chill filtered with no added colouring, so what is in the glass is close to what came out of the cask.
What does the Staoisha (Bunnahabhain) taste like? Staoisha is Bunnahabhain’s heavily peated Islay spirit. This 12-year-old refill PX cask gives damp peat and smoked bacon alongside dark chocolate, banana bread and maple syrup, with a long, smoky, sherried finish. It is the biggest and most intense whisky in the batch.
Where can I buy the Leith Bond single casks? Directly from the Port of Leith online shop at shop.leithdistillery.com. Outturns are small, between 205 and 302 bottles per cask, so stock can sell out quickly. UK orders over £75 ship free; international buyers should check shipping at checkout.
What is Port of Leith Distillery known for? Port of Leith is Scotland’s first vertical distillery, a nine-storey building in Edinburgh’s Leith harbour founded by Paddy Fletcher and Ian Stirling and producing since 2023. Its own single malt is still maturing, so for now it is best known for Lind & Lime Gin, Table Whisky, and the Leith Bond independent bottlings.
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