58°59'N · 3°18'W
Expedition Origin: Kirkwall, Orkney
From the northern isles, we chart the finest casks across Scotland's whisky regions. This is the story of how we came to map the spirit of the land.
A gauger was the Scottish excise officer who measured the angel's share — the whisky that evaporated from casks during maturation. These men walked the warehouses, dipping rods into barrels, recording the slow disappearance of spirit into the Highland air.
Robert Burns himself served as a gauger in Dumfries, traversing the countryside on horseback to measure what the angels had taken. The gauger knew every cask, every warehouse, every subtle variation in the spirit.
We reclaim the finest from Scotland's distilleries — not what the angels take, but what they leave behind. The gauger's share is the spirit that remains: concentrated, matured, and transformed by time and wood and air.
Each cask we select has been surveyed, measured, and found exceptional. Like the gaugers of old, we travel the country with a discerning eye and a respect for provenance. What we bottle is the best of what Scotland's distilleries have to offer.
Regions We Bottle From
Scotland's whisky-producing regions, charted
Our Selection Process
Step 01
We travel Scotland's distillery regions, visiting warehouses and tasting rooms. Hundreds of casks are sampled each year across Speyside, the Highlands, Islay, and beyond.
Step 02
Only casks that speak with unusual clarity of their origin are selected. We look for character, complexity, and a sense of place — spirit that tastes of where it was made.
Step 03
Each bottle is charted with its coordinates: the distillery's latitude and longitude, the cask number, the date it was laid down. Bottled unfiltered, natural colour, at cask strength.
Survey Headquarters
Ayre Road
Kirkwall, Orkney
KW15 1QX
Scotland
58°59'N · 3°18'W
FIELD NOTES — MAP LEGEND ENTRY
55°04'N · 3°36'W — DUMFRIES, 1789
Historical Survey · Crown Excise Officers of Scotland
In the age of illicit distilling, Scotland’s Excise Officers — known as Gaugers — were the Crown’s eyes and ears in the Highlands. Tasked with hunting unlicensed stills and taxing legal production, these men knew good whisky when they tasted it.
Where the Angel’s Share quietly evaporates through the barrel staves, the Gauger’s Share was extracted with considerably less ceremony — assessed, measured, and taken by the Crown’s man with a nose for quality.
Robert Burns himself served as a Gauger in Dumfries from 1789. The great poet — Scotland’s national bard — spent his final years walking distilleries, assessing casks, and writing verse. We like to think he discharged his duties with appropriate appreciation.
We take our name as a tribute to those exacting men of taste. Today, we apply the same scrutiny to every cask we select — searching Scotland for the drams worth claiming as your share.
REF. GS-HIST-001 · EXCISE ACT 1823 · BURNS, R. — GAUGER, DUMFRIES DISTRICT