BYOB-C

This acronym for “Bring Your Own Bottle Club” is not only an acronym, but also an Independent Bottler from Belgium. Luckily for us… we know one of the head founders 😉

And… he’s beside the founder of Klubb23 (which we’re part of) also a good personal friend.

Back to BYOB-C!

This IB is based in Belgium and started from scrap with 8 members founding a club. After that they decided to bottle their own liquid in their range “Lads of Lobland – Monarchy of the lads” (8 releases). Cool and funny fact: check out those labels, you’ll find hints about the founding 8!

The BYOB-C has had help from no other than Jürgen Vromans, you know… that guy from “The Whisky Mercenary” and Adri & Willem from casQueteers, to grow as a club/community.

So far BYOB-C has released 4 series:

Lads of Lobland – Monarchy of the lads (8 releases);
Old Teavel Posters (3 releases so far);
Mobsters on Mopeds (release 8 is on its way…);
What if BYOB-C meant something else – Build Your Own Bearded Commando (5 releases and end of missions);
More to come…

So what about those bottlings… are they any good? Well we’ve tried some and we’d love to share our journey and exploration with you:

Single Malt
Distillery: Arran
Bottler: BYOB-C
Vintage: 2010
Age: 10 yo
ABV: 56.6 %
WB: 159385

Notes

Nose: Sweet, malty, green apples, citrus zest, nectarine and heater.

Palate: Nectarine, Wild peaches, burned wood and some paraffin wax.

Finish: Medium/long with spices, sweet notes and vanilla.

Score: 85

Score: 85

Singel Malt
Distillery: Ledaig
Bottler: BYOB-C
Vintage: 2007
Age: 12 yo
ABV: 52.9 %
WB: 141702

Notes

Nose: Sweat peat, charcoal, candied red apples (those glazed ones), seaweed, fennel, licorice, lemon, jute and smoked meat.

Palate: fennel licorice (the Dutch know what we mean with venkel dropjes), brine, campfire smoke, cane sugar, thyme, turmeric and mint leaves.

Finish: medium/long with oily and bbq sweetness notes.

Score: 87

SCORE: 86

Single Malt
Distillery: Loch Lomond
Bottler: BYOB-C
Vintage: 1993
Age: 26 yo
ABV: 50.3 %
WB: 144360

Notes

Nose: leather, fish oil, vegetation, overripe pears and mandarins.

Palate: stewed pears, spices, maltiness, tar, dragon fruit and peaches.

Finish: medium, spices like anise and pepper. And some musty fruit like that dragon fruit.

SCORE: 85

SCORE: 86

Single Malt
Distillery: Glen Elgin
Bottler: BYOB-C
Vintage: 1998
Age: 21 yo
ABV: 51.5 %
WB: 156552

Notes

Nose: menthol, vanilla, toffee, banana, candy sweetness and peach.

Palate: Candy peaches (Haribo), burned sugar, vanilla, grassy and mint leaves.

Finish: short/medium with white pepper, menthol and cane sugar.

Score: 84

Single Malt
Distillery: a Speyside
Bottler: BYOB-C
Vintage: 1996
Age: 23 yo
ABV: 53.1 %
WB: 166483

Notes

Nose: Melon, kiwi, starfruit and red forrest fruits.

Palate: Spices, cardamom, cinnamon, red berries, strawberry and nuts.

Finish: short/medium, dried fruits and some white pepper.

Score: 86

SCORE: 86

If you havent encountered with BYOB-C before… now you have 😉🥃
We surely enjoyed these samples. Our favorite was the Ledaig and we had some disagree about the Old Rosdhu (Loch Lomond). I, @Whiskypeater, had some off notes with it, like a fishnet with decayed fish… But my brother, @Dramtastic.86, actually liked it and translated it to Fish Oil, but in a funky good way 😅.

We also tried a Secret Grain from 1973, 46yo @ 50.4% ABV… But it wasn’t selected! You know why, because we do?! Apparently it was good, and it was indeed, but the retail price point was off. And that shows that this Independent Bottler isn’t out there to make money, but to bottle whisky for enthousiasts, by enthousiast. And that’s exactly our way of life when it comes to whisky…

“Whisky…
It’s not only the water of life, it’s more…
It’s a liquid that brings people together and creates special connections…”
Dutch Whisky Brothers

We’d like to thank Dominic from BYOB-C for these samples and sharing in each others journey. We’re looking forward to future and we know there’s some awesome bottlings coming out soon! Someone say: “Kitty Cat 😻”?

Stay tuned and keep an eye out for this Independent Bottler…

Slàinte 🥃

Dutch Whisky Brothers