Independent Bottler
Stravaig Spirits Company Ltd
Founded and Owned by Ola Lopatopwska and Ryan McCafferty who first met 12 years ago when they both worked at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Ryan 5 years, Ola 4 years). Ryan worked as a brand ambassador for the society and bar manager at the time while Ola was back office in the sales and events team as a business development manager. Ryan has always had a passion for whisky since University where he joined and became part of the committee of the "Edinburgh University Water of Life Society". For Ola it required a little more effort and determination to like whisky which began during her time at SMWS (it can be taught if you persevere :-). It didn't take long before Ola and Ryan were invited to become part of the prestigious SMWS tasting panel. Sampling and scoring a huge array of single casks, and responsible for the selection (and famous tasting notes) of SMWS. This further helped hone and add to their whisky knowledge and experience - especially sitting alongside some of the heavy weights of the industry, analysing samples with the likes of Charlie Maclean, Rachel Barrie to name a few. This is really where the infatuation with single cask whisky started.
After SMWS both Ola and Ryan moved into different roles in different industries - but nonetheless further adding to their management, business development, sales and operations experience.
Fast forward to 2018/19 and they both end up working together again in Edinburgh for a cask brokering company, while Ryan was managing the supplier and logistics of the business, while Ola was in the sales team. This time they both gained experience of an entirely different side of the whisky market which was the lucrative business of trading casks.
It was then during covid that they decided to start Stravaig Spirits. They wanted to combine their love for whisky which was gained at SMWS with the knowledge and contacts that they developed during their cask brokering days and create a business. They began trading in January 2022; first by buying and selling casks, while developing Tri Carragh Single Cask whisky. They wanted to create a brand that was traditional and immediately evoked Scotland and Scotch whisky - but most importantly They wanted to build it slowly and considerately, focusing on the most important part, the whisky itself. They launched in October 2022 with their first three single cask single malts.
There are a lot of indie bottlers out there ... but if your focus is on the liquid then they believe you can't go wrong. Tri Carragh release interesting single cask whisky that has quality and character above fancy glass or labels - this is the priority. They feel that as long as they maintain that rule, they'll remain known as selectors of truly excellent whisky and create a following of loyal customers.
Shortly after the launch of Tri Carragh we had interest from a South Korean distributor who really liked tri carragh and Stravaig (as a company and people) but wanted to import large volumes into SK for on and off trade.
Due to the limited nature of single cask we set out to create a new brand to compliment Tri Carragh. Working together with the importer they created Glenlaird, based on the same principles of quality and character but in a small batch rather than single cask format.
As an undisclosed Highland Single Malt, Glenlaird allows the flexibility to bring the very best flavours from across the huge number of distilleries of the Scottish Highlands. So although each individual batch and age statement is a single malt, sourced from the same distillery - the source between batches and age statements will differ, ensuring Glenlaird isn't restricted to the same distillery character and flavours each time, ensuring unique flavours each release. Batch #1 of Glenlaird 10yo and 12yo was completed and shipped in May 2023 last year. With the successful launch in South Korea a few months later it is now available in homeplus supermarkets and bars across Seoul. Following this success and the superb feedback in tastings it was launched here in the UK this year as well as through our distributors in Canada, Japan and Netherlands. Priced considerably for scotch whisky lovers who like age statement malts. Always bottled at 48% and non-chill filtered. It's a very versatile whisky that can be enjoyed neat or mixed depending on the market and customer preferences.