As an independent bottler, we here at GreatDrams are constantly looking for ways of being innovative and trying something new when it comes to whisky, and we’re certainly not the only ones.

While I was away recently, I got to look, in depth, at a concept we’ve been toying with for a while here at GreatDrams. The concept in question was essentially a lucky dip for whisky, as made famous by independent bottlers and distillers such as Thompson Bros. Mystery Malts, as they’ve named it, is proving to be a best-seller and is a whole lot of fun.

Now, while it’s unlikely that Thompson Bros came up with the concept of purchasing your whisky blind, their take on it has certainly proved to be one of the most popular and is helping to introduce people to different expressions from different regions that they ordinarily wouldn’t have tried.

So, for today’s post, I thought I’d take a more detailed look at Thompson Bros’ Mystery Malts, what it is, how it works, and what you could potentially get with your purchase.

Who are Thompson Bros?

While the concept behind buying a whisky blind is nothing new, I think it’s fair to say that Thompson Bros have really nailed it with their take on it.

Thompson Bros are independent bottlers and distillers from Dornoch in Scotland’s Highlands region. The business is made up of Simon and Phillip Thompson who also ran the renowned Dornoch Castle Hotel Whisky Bar.

In 2017, the brothers established the Dornoch Distillery, which was largely financed thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign. They’re renowned for producing whisky using traditional methods the old-fashioned way, with a few modern tweaks thrown in for good measure. The distillery may be small and humble in size but is responsible for producing some of the most unique malts in all of Scotland.

As independent bottlers, they also select various casks of whisky from distilleries across Scotland, and bottle them under their brand. They’re known for choosing more unique and unusual drams and like to really tell a story with the expressions they put out. What I love is that they’re so open and share so much detail about the whisky, how it was produced, how it was aged, how old it is, and where it came from.

What are Mystery Malts?

Back in May 2025, Thompson Bros launched Mystery Malts Series No 1, which was essentially an exciting take on a lucky dip for whisky! How cool is that?

This new concept allows buyers to select a mystery bottle of whisky where the age, distillery, and other key details about the release are hidden.

The brothers bottle a variety of different casks of single malt whisky in opaque black glass bottles. Each bottle features the same ABV% and the same branding which features a large white question mark symbol on the front, and a little extra info on the back.

What’s inside the bottle is hidden on a special label under the capsule on the glass, as well as on a sticker on the cork. That way, it’s impossible for drinkers to get their drams confused if they happened to open multiple bottles and got the caps mixed up. See, it’s the small details like this that make the biggest difference.

Once the capsule covering the cork is removed, the whisky’s age, cask type, and distillery will be revealed. This allows whisky lovers and casual drinkers alike, to tread new ground, force themselves out of their comfort zones, and sample drams they ordinarily wouldn’t have given a second thought to.

They use a spread of different cask types from distilleries across Scotland’s different whisky regions. These could be small, relatively new distilleries, or they could be distilleries such as Caol Ila, which date back centuries. What you receive however, is blind luck. Your purchase could wind up being a 5-year-old Oloroso cask finished dram, or you could receive a 25-year-old 1^st fill bourbon expression.

When it was released earlier last year, the concept went down an absolute treat. It was so popular in fact, that they are currently on Series 5. On the rear of the bottle, you’ll also find a QR code, which you can scan to enjoy a comprehensive breakdown of each series so you can see which would appeal the most to you, assuming it’s still available of course.

What’s great about this concept is that it can help introduce people to whiskies and new flavours. They also make wonderful gifts, and can benefit distilleries and retailers too, as well as the buyer. For indecisive customers not sure of which dram to go with, a Mystery Malt could be the perfect solution.

Mystery Malts Series No.5

In late December of 2025, Thompson Bros released the fifth iteration of their hugely popular Mystery Malts series.

The collection is made up of nearly 11,000 bottles (10,708 to be precise) and is the independent bottler’s largest collection of mystery drams to date. The whiskies contained within this collection vary in age, with the youngest being 5 years old, and the oldest coming in at 27 years.

Just to ensure that everything is as fair and even as can possibly be, all of the whiskies in this series are non-chill filtered, naturally coloured, and feature an ABV of 46.3%.

In this particular series, lucky buyers get to purchase one of 39 different single malts from a selection of established distilleries, with a variety of different maturation styles and cask types available. There are peated and unpeated expressions, and cask types including rye, first-fill bourbons, refill sherry hogsheads, ex-tawny port hogsheads, and many more besides.

Regardless of the age, cask type, distillery, and prominence of the whisky within, each bottle in the Mystery Malt series retails for the same price, which, as of this writing, is a very reasonable £65. Does this mean that each bottle in the series is valued at that price? No, it does not. Some may retail for ever-so slightly less, and some may retail for a whole lot more. The Clynelish 21 for example, which features in this collection, is the rarest and most valuable in this series and is limited to just 17 bottles. Let’s just say this one retails for WELL above 65 quid. Land one of those and you’ll have struck liquid gold!

While I personally recommend you go into this experience completely blind, if you simply have to know which whisky you could potentially wind up with, I’ll go ahead and attach the complete list of possible drams below. This is taken directly from the Mystery Malt website, so you know it’s legit.

If you’d like to learn more about your favourite whiskies, or simply treat yourself to a dram or two in the process, head on over to GreatDrams.com and take a look at the diverse selection of unique whiskies we currently have in stock.

With an impressive selection of limited-edition, rare, and award-winning whisky, as well as heaps of whisky info on our blog, it’s the perfect spot for any whisky lovers out there.