That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Type: Independent bottler

Ardbeg, Macallan, Caperdonich and Port Ellen: That Boutique-y Whisky Company began with four single malts and a striking illustrated identity. Launched on 12 September 2012, it has paired whisky from Scotland and beyond with hand drawn labels by Glasgow based artist Emily Chappell from the start.[1][2]

This is an independent bottler and blender, not a distillery. It selects casks from other producers, bringing their whisky together under its own name.[2][8]

In short

• The producer describes a continuous core range of five bottlings.[7]
• The company says labels for unnamed distilleries contain clues, not confirmed identities.[8]
• Its End of the World release comprised 15 whiskies in 2024.[3]

What That Boutique-y Whisky Company is known for

The whisky ranges widely; the illustrated labels hold it together. Boutique-y’s first four releases, from Ardbeg, Macallan, Caperdonich and Port Ellen, set the pattern: familiar distillery names alongside whisky from sites that had closed.[2]

Scotland was only the beginning. The company lists whisky from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, South Africa, England, Ireland, Wales, Taiwan, Israel and Canada, alongside American bourbon, rye and corn whiskeys.[8] Geography is a rewarding way into the catalogue. The company name does not mean everything inside the bottle is Scotch.

Boutique-y selects and blends these whiskies rather than distilling them itself.[2][8] That relationship between the maker of a spirit and the name on its bottle is central to what an independent bottler does.

The catalogue extends beyond individual distillery bottlings to themed collections, blends and a continuous core range.[2][3][7]

The people and the beginning

Ben Ellefsen was one of Boutique-y’s founders, and The Drinks Business describes the company as his brainchild.[2] Its launch has a precise date: 12 September 2012, recorded in both the trade profile and the producer’s anniversary account.[1][2]

Two other figures help shape its whisky and its public voice. Sam Simmons, known as “Dr. Whisky”, is identified as Head of Whisky at Atom Brands and assembled the tenth-birthday blend. Dave Worthington is its Global Brand Ambassador.[2]

Worthington’s involvement began on a festival stand. According to The Drinks Business, he helped Boutique-y at Whisky Live London in 2016, was then asked to work a Bristol festival alone and later joined full time.[2] His route into the ambassador role began with the practical business of explaining these bottles directly to visitors.

Story box: From a launch to an illustrated whisky catalogue

Labels that tell another part of the story

Emily Chappell has drawn every Boutique-y label from the start. The company reports more than 200 hand-drawn labels, giving whiskies from very different places a recognisable visual connection.[1][2][8] The artwork is a continuing part of the company’s identity, not a flourish reserved for special releases.

Sometimes it also offers clues to a whisky’s origin. The company says that even labels for unnamed distilleries contain them.[8] Treat those details as clues, rather than confirmed identities, and the illustrations remain an enjoyable part of exploring the bottles.

Return to Oz shows how closely the pictures can follow the whisky. According to the trade profile, each label depicts a dangerous animal from the area around the relevant Australian distillery.[2] The collection’s shared theme is rooted in the individual places behind its whiskies.

For numbered or unnamed releases, turn next to independent bottler code names. When recording a bottle, distinguish the disclosed name from the illustration and any suggested identification.

From Scotch casks to world whisky

Boutique-y reports a substantial reach across Scotland. As checked in November 2026, the company says it has bottled whisky from 79 of Scotland’s 95 established single malt distilleries, with some of that whisky described as teaspooned.[8]

Its grain whisky coverage also spans operating and lost distilleries. As checked in November 2026, it says it has bottled whisky from six of Scotland’s seven operating grain distilleries and all seven lost grain distilleries.[8] Both sets of figures are the company’s reported coverage, rather than an independently verified census or current count.

Beyond Scotland, themed collections give the catalogue shape. The first Australian collection appeared in April 2020 and was followed by Return to Oz. Another collection gathered nine rye whiskies from around the world, while individual releases have included a 19 Year Old from Japan’s Karuizawa distillery.[2]

Explore by country through the Australian collections, by style through the rye collection, or by named distillery through individual releases. There is no single flavour profile to assume across the range.

The continuous core range

Not every Boutique-y bottling is a one-off cask. The producer’s press release describes a continuous core range of five bottlings, with the whiskies blended in 1,000 litre vats.[7] These are the names and age statements given in that release.

The World Whisky Blend was the company’s first continuously available release.[7] Out of this World Whisky Blend and It’s a Small World Whisky Blend have also appeared in the catalogue.[3] Blending is part of Boutique-y’s main work, alongside its distillery bottlings.

A core bottling signals continuity; a batch number identifies a specific catalogue entry.[3][7] Neither alone tells you how the whisky tastes.

Birthday releases and the End of the World

The tenth-birthday collection in 2022 brought together a broad spread of ages and names. It included the Birthday Blend 10 Year Old, assembled by Simmons, alongside releases including Aberlour 31, Ben Nevis 25, Clynelish 25, Blended Grain #1 45 and Speyside #1 50.[1] Age describes the selection here, rather than ranking its whiskies.

On 29 February 2024, Boutique-y introduced the End of the World release: 15 whiskies under one theme.[3] Among them were EOTW Whisky Blend Batch 1, a 4 Year Old; Imperial Batch 1, a 25 Year Old distilled in 1998; and Dalmunach Batch 1, a 7 Year Old.[3]

The producer traces that theme back to its founding in 2012, the year associated with predictions about the Mayan calendar.[3] Its account describes Chappell’s blend label as a triptych, drawing inspiration from Hieronymus Bosch, John Martin and Benjamin West, as well as a Grayson Perry exhibition in Edinburgh.[3]

Verdict: Documented

• Claim: Boutique-y connected its 2012 founding year with its 2024 End of the World release.
• What the record shows: The producer’s dated release account explicitly makes that connection.
• Evidence against or gap: The connection concerns the company’s theme, not the truth of an apocalyptic prediction.
• Earliest known source: The producer’s February 2024 End of the World account.
• Last checked: 7 November 2026.

Ownership and the wider family

August 2024 marks the important ownership correction. The Daily Pour reports that AB InBev sold Atom Group back to Justin Petszaft, returning the business to full founder ownership.[5] AB InBev’s involvement had begun with the April 2018 agreement by its growth unit, ZX Ventures, to acquire the group.[5]

Boutique-y is a trading name of Atom Supplies Limited, not a separately named distillery.[8] That distinction explains the Atom name in company and group references: the public bottling name and the underlying business identity are different.

The wider Boutique-y family also bottles other spirits. That Boutique-y Rum Company launched on 25 October 2018, developed with rum expert Peter Holland and starting with nine rums. That Boutique-y Gin Company is another sister bottler.[6] The producer’s anniversary account also records a 2022 brandy launch with a 21 Year Old Calvados from Christian Drouin.[1]

Where to go next

• What Is an Independent Bottler?: understand the relationship between distiller, cask selector and bottler.
• Independent Bottler Code Names Explained: distinguish a disclosed source from an unnamed release.
• The Scotch Malt Whisky Society: explore another independent bottler’s reference page.

Sources

1. Master of Malt, Dave Worthington. That Boutique-y Whisky Company turns 10!. Producer’s account, 2022. https://www.masterofmalt.com/blog/post/that-boutique-y-whisky-company-turns-10/
2. The Drinks Business, Douglas Blyde. Meet the maker: Dave Worthington. Trade profile, 2023. https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2023/03/meet-the-maker-dave-worthington/
3. That Boutique-y Whisky Company. The End of the World. Producer’s account, February 2024. https://www.thatboutiqueywhiskycompany.com/blog/2024/02/eotw-series
4. The Daily Pour, Pedro Wolfe. AB InBev Sells 'Number 1 Online Whisky Retailer in the World' Back to Founder. Trade report, August 2024. https://thedailypour.com/whiskey/ab-inbev-sells-number-1-online-whisky-retailer-in-the-world-back-to-founder/
5. The Spirits Business, Owen Bellwood. Atom Brands debuts That Boutique-y Rum Company. Trade report, October 2018. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/10/atom-brands-launches-that-boutique-y-rum-company/
6. Master of Malt Press Hub, Atom Brands. That Boutique-y Whisky Company Core Release. Producer’s press release, undated. https://www.masterofmalt.com/presshub/press-release/boutique-y-core-range/
7. That Boutique-y Whisky Company. About. Producer’s account, undated, version recorded in the supplied November 2026 fact sheet. https://www.thatboutiqueywhiskycompany.com/about

This desk-researched article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer accounts from trade reporting; no tasting or visit is implied.

Last checked: November 2026