Mossburn Whiskies is carving its own path through Scotland’s whisky landscape. Part of the same family as Torabhaig, it shares a deep respect for the country’s heritage, but while Torabhaig tells the story of a single place and house style, Mossburn is on a broader mission: curating bold, distinctive malts from across Scotland. From its Signature Casks collection, which champions the unique character of each region, to limited Vintage and Collaborative releases, Mossburn is a journey through the many voices of Scotch, each bottle selected, matured, and bottled with care by the team behind Torabhaig.
Its latest offering, The Ephemera Collection, is a one-time release of 12 rare and unusual bottlings, each paired with a story from Scottish folklore where fact and fiction blur, creating a collection as rich in narrative as it is in flavour.
The Ephemera Collection — every bottle explained
Two Jamaican rums from 2000 and 2005, matured in bourbon barrels and finished in peated quarter casks before being married in refill butts. Aged 19 • 600 bottles
A 2008 single grain Scotch with components finished in Cognac, French red wine and Jamaican rum casks. Aged 15 • 1,350 bottles
A blended grain whisky made from spirits distilled over a 21-year span beginning in the early 1990s, matured entirely in Oloroso sherry hogsheads. No age statement • 1,350 bottles
Rather than dress the bottles in generic tartan-and-mist branding, Mossburn has leaned into Scotland’s stranger folklore: dragons, cursed bishops, wandering tricksters and spectral goblins. Each bottle carries a tale where fact and fiction blur, with stories pulled from the Borders to the Highlands.
With fewer than 15,000 bottles in total, availability is extremely limited, but the liquid itself spans everything from multi-decade grain blends to sherry-heavy malts to rum finished in Spanish dessert wine casks. According to whiskymaker Neil Macleod Mathieson, the idea was to share the “more unusual casks” in their archive, each one distinct in grain, age, maturation or treatment, and let the folklore amplify their character.
A grain blend built from four different distilleries, four decades and four cask types. No age statement • 1,350 bottles
A blended Scotch combining 21-year-old grain whisky with older malts, including Campbeltown spirit, finished in second-fill bourbon barrels previously used for peated whisky. Aged 21 • 1,000 bottles
A blend of 12-year-old Panamanian rum and 20-year-old Trinidadian rum, finished in Spanish Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. Aged 12 • 1,000 bottles
Take, for example, The Linton Wyrm, inspired by the tale of Scotland’s last dragon, said to have terrorised the Borderlands from its lair at the aptly named “Worm’s Den” in Linton, Roxburghshire. Local legend tells of a courageous knight, John or William de Somerville, who forged an iron trident tipped with flaming peat, tar, and brimstone to take on the beast. After a daring joust-like encounter, he plunged the burning spear down the wyrm’s throat, vanquishing it and earning a celebratory feast and, later, a dragon on his coat of arms.
Mossburn’s team went deep into Scotland’s folklore to capture this story in liquid form: the whisky is a smooth, rich, smoky dram with a subtle tickle of fire on the finish, echoing the dragon’s fiery demise. Each bottle in The Ephemera Collection is treated with the same care, blending rigorous research, regional character, and narrative inspiration so every dram tells its own uniquely Scottish story.
Four 15-year-old whiskies matured in Oloroso (first-fill and refill), Madeira and bourbon casks. Aged 15 • 1,350 bottles
A blended Scotch initially aged in sherry and rum casks, then re-aged in casks that once held peated single malt. Aged 14 • 1,350 bottles
A blended grain Scotch created from five single grains distilled in five different decades starting in the 1970s. No age statement • 1,350 bottles
The Ephemera Collection caters to both collectors and curious drinkers alike, offering a range of whiskies that vary in price, age, and rarity. Bottles start at around £65 and climb to £150 for rarer, more complex expressions such as The Reliquary and The Great Michael. Each release is limited, with quantities ranging from 600 to 1,350 bottles globally, making some truly scarce while others remain surprisingly accessible. This careful curation ensures there’s something for everyone.
A blend of Lowland grain with Highland and Speyside malts, matured in a mix of sherry, wine and Madeira casks. Aged 13 • 1,350 bottles
A blended malt from a single Speyside site with two distilleries, matured across recharred hogsheads, first-fill bourbon barrels and reused Oloroso sherry hogsheads. Aged 14 • 1,350 bottles
Speyside and Highland malts from 2009, aged in refill hogsheads and finished in double-toasted virgin European oak. Aged 15 • 1,350 bottles
With each of these whiskies released in extremely limited numbers, you’ll want to act fast. Much like the legends that inspired them, these bottles are destined to become stories whispered through the ages.
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