Flora and Fauna Research

[alexjordan]

Hello - this is my first post so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Alex and I like whisky!

I've started collecting the Flora and Fauna whiskies. I appreciate I'm late to the game, but it's at least a target. However, the more I learn about the whiskies the more I want to know, so I've started researching and writing about them. The thing is, despite so much information out there, there's still a lot I don't know. I was hoping members of this forum could assist?

For example, the boxed white cap is widely acknowledged to be the first edition. Looking across all the major online whisky auction sites I see some white caps don't have a box (maybe they were lost?) and I can't find any examples of Craigellachie, Dailuaine, Glenlossie, Rosebank and Speyburn with a white cap... are they so rare they've never sold at auction, or did they never have a white cap?

Similarly, I've identified 7 that have never sold with a carton - some of the distilleries were mothballed/sold, but others remained with Diageo throughout. When were the cartons introduced?

I see two label iterations of Dailuaine, but not others - I wonder when and why. Aberfeldy, Blair Athol and Clynelish come in a 5cl Miniature version - any more? Is the total number of the cask strength releases publicly known?

So really I was keen to know if anyone here could help? Given the amount of time that's passed, reaching out to the individual distilleries has not been very productive.

I look forward to partaking in this forum and learning more about whisky.

[the_skottydog]

Just noticed your post and have some answers for you. Sorry it’s a year late!

Flora and Fauna was started by one of the forerunners of Diageo. The range as concocted as a way of making a release from each one of its distilleries that didn’t have an official bottling. As a range it was never marketed and was only available at the distillery visitor centres. It eventually complemented the Classic Malts selection after the creation of Diageo.

It initially consisted of 22 bottles, 17 of which had white capsules. Each one also had a wooden box. The only initial releases not to have a white cap were Benrinnes, Craigellachie, Glenlossie, Rosebank and Speyburn. The bottle from Speyburn was one of the rarest as rumour has it there was only one production batch made, as the distillery was sold with stock to Inver House. Balmenach and Rosebank were mothballed in 1993, but Balmenach was sold to Inver House with stock and is also a bit harder to find. Pittyvaich closed in 1993 and was subsequently demolished.

The sale of wooden boxes didn’t last long and soon cartons were used for some of the bottlings.

In 1997 a limited release of 9 Flora and Fauna Cask Strength numbered bottles were released - Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Blair Athol, Caol Ila, Clynelish, Dailuaine, Linkwood Mortlach and Royal Brackla. These often command large prices.

Eventually Aberfeldy, Aultmore Balmenach, Bladnoch, Craigellachie, Pittyvaich, Rosebank, Royal Brackla and Speyburn were disposed of. Clynelish, Dufftown and Glendullan received proprietary bottlings thus depleting the range. In 2001 4 more bottles were added to the range, Auchroisk, Glen Elgin, Glen Spey and Strathmill. These all had black caps and were never issued with boxes or cartons. Glen Elgin was only in the range for a year; becoming a proprietary bottling in 2002. This bottle can command relatively high prices.

Miniatures were released in the Flora and Fauna range for the distilleries that had visitor centres. These were Aberfeldy, Blair Athol and Clynelish so these can be bought in the gift shops. I have seen an Inchgower miniature as well, but have never owned one.

The range is a good one to collect. Harder bottles to find are the Speyburn which can command a price over £3000 once auction fees are added. Also Royal Brackla can be hard to get too. Some of the white caps are pretty common, like Blair Athol and Inchgower, but Royal Brackla, Aberfeldy, Aultmore aren’t common at all. The hardest one to get is the Dailuaine. I’ve seen one at auction but it looks to have a capsule that isn’t original, and I think somebody has resealed it. Last time I saw it the hammer price was £700. I’ve recently found one at auction that was only £280 and has a genuine capsule.

If you want a tip, if buying a bottle with a wooden box, make sure the bottle does not have a rear label or tax stamp. This is not an early release and would have been bottled after 2006.

I currently have 2 complete Flora and Fauna collections and one has all the wooden boxes and white caps. It’s taken 10 years to achieve this. If you take your time it is achievable to complete, but if you want to complete your collection, get a Speyburn as soon as you can as prices are on the up. Rosebank is the same.

I wrote an article for my blog https://tastywhisky.home.blog/2019/09/15/its-not-about-the-birds-and-bees if you want to read.

Hope this helps,
Scotty