12yo OB versus Thompson Bros 11yo | Various ABV

Too Polite & ‘Safe’?

I first encountered Wolfburn at the top edge of the Scottish mainland and years later I’m still trying to work out why it hasn’t travelled further in my glass.

I bought my first bottle of Wolfburn in 2020. I think it was the non-age statement Aurora release, and it was amongst the first ten bottles of malt whisky that I owned. At the time I really enjoyed it. To me, at that point, it had a bit of character but seemed quite balanced – despite having been partially matured in sherry casks - and it didn’t seem overpowered by the sherry.

I hadn’t picked it up at the distillery itself, in those early, tentative steps out of Covid, distillery visits and tours still weren’t really an option. Instead of at the distillery, I found the Aurora not far from Wolfburn’s home, a little further along Scotland’s North coast, in a tourist shop at John O’Groats - the northernmost point of the British mainland. Somehow that felt fitting for the northernmost whisky distillery on the Scottish mainland.

At the time I was travelling the North Coast 500 solo in a campervan. There were few places open to even buy a coffee during that time. In those days, travellers on the NC500 weren’t popular with everyone, you passed lots of homemade signs clearly telling tourists they were not welcome.

After spending the night at Duncansby Head, near John O’Groats, looking north towards the Orkney Isles and having hiked out to the dramatic sea stacks nearby first thing in the morning, I bought the Aurora before continuing westerly across the top of Scotland toward my next stop at Durness. That stretch of coastline is rugged and restless, with extremely gusty winds punctuating the route.

The original Wolfburn distillery was the largest distillery in the Caithness region in the 19th century. William Smith established it in 1821, naming it after the Wolf Burn, which provided its water source. By 1840, it was reported that 5,000 bottles of whisky were being consumed weekly in Caithness, which seems a lot. The precise date of the original Wolfburn’s closure is not clear, some records suggest it continued with some operation into the 1860s. Presumably the closure wasn’t down to lack of demand.

The distillery was ‘reopened’ in 2013, less than half a kilometre from the original site and still sourcing its water from the local Wolf Burn. It is located in an area known as the Flow Country, which is apparently the largest expanse of peat bog in Europe.

Under the new Wolfburn, there seems a pride that each stage of the production process is conducted on-site other than maltings and cooperage. It states that it bottles all its whiskies at 46% ABV or higher, with no chill filtration or added colouring. Taken at face value, everything in the distillery set up points toward a modern-but-traditional Highland-style spirit. But to me, these days, the character of the final whisky seems a bit muted, which is what makes it puzzling.

Review 1/2

Wolfburn 12yo, official bottling, 2025 release, 46% ABV
£68 & wide availability

I was very much looking forward to this. After enjoying the Aurora, I really hoped that five years further down the line, that the quality of the Wolfburn releases would have really moved on.

The packaging stated it was matured in a combination of second-fill Oloroso Sherry Hogsheads and ex-bourbon casks and from what I can gather it is a 50/50 split between the two. It’s stated to be lightly peated and, unsurprisingly for their oldest age statement release so far, is stated as their flagship.

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Decent but you might forget you have it*

Nose

The nose wasn’t particularly special on this one, it was as under the radar as me trying to bring new bottles into the house whilst Mrs Campbell is at home. There were some caramel notes with fruit, a tiny bit of smoke, more campfire than peat like, also with berries, dried apple and ginger.

Palate

It’s underwhelmingly sherried. There are cherries and some red berry and blackberry notes which also bring the sweet taste from the sherry cask, with some dark chocolate and a touch of honey. There is peppery spice with some ginger but only a small amount. There is a degree of peat smoke lurking in this, but it never fully registered with me.

It’s a medium finish with some warmth.

The Dregs

This is a pleasant, easy-going whisky with nothing overtly wrong with it, but I couldn’t escape the feeling that it was a bit flat and uninspiring. The word that initially came to mind was “disappointing,” though that would unfairly drag it down to a 3/10 on the Dramface scale, and it’s certainly not operating at that level. To me it is squarely in that middle of scale territory - a calibrator dram, perhaps, or something you sip on the couch without giving it too much thought. I could see myself using this one for visitors who aren’t big whisky drinkers – a good quality dram that isn’t going to scare anyone.

However, at £68, this sits in a fiercely competitive price bracket, and while it doesn’t embarrass itself, it doesn’t outshine its peers – there is no differentiator. It’s near the coast but lacks that salinity you often find, and it’s in a peat bog but doesn’t seem to know it. Nothing in this dram grabs you.

Score: 6/10

Review 2/2

Wolfburn 11yo, Thompson Bros Mystery Malt Series 3, 2025 release, 48.5% ABV
£65 paid

As with all Thompson Bros Mystery Malt, it was not a conscious purchasing decision to end up with a bottle of Wolfburn. When you uncork that lucky dip, you get what you get.

When I first poured the liquid on this one it looked visibly viscous, I really noticed the thickness in the pour. The liquid seemed relatively pale which I generally take as a good omen. There were 338 bottles of this in the Mystery Malt Release 3, that was 6.77% of the total release and it allegedly comes from a sherry hogshead but it’s a balanced one as my first nose definitely gave the freshness of a bourbon cask – and the colour is quite pale.

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Good, but maybe not the best of the Mystery Malts I’ve had*

Nose

It’s a pleasant nose which instantly made me think of stewed pears. There are also apples, a hint of strawberry as well as malt, butter and vanilla, but also a small touch of smoke. The smell from the empty glass was actually more appealing afterwards, lovely notes of caramel mixed with a hint of sherry.

Palate

The taste is quite fruity, with apples and blueberry notes to the forefront, together with the caramel you would more readily associate with a bourbon cask. There is a touch of pepper and spiciness, along with a fair bit of oak. The palate perhaps shows a little too much alcohol burn, more like what you would expect from a younger spirit.

The finish is relatively short and drying – it isn’t a moreish finish or one you would repeatedly reach for. The promise suggested by the viscous nature of the pour does not follow through into the mouthfeel; quite the opposite, it seemed fairly thin.

The Dregs

The single cask Mystery Malt was a small step up from the Official Bottling, but not to the significant level I have previously experienced from almost every Thompson Bros independently bottled release I have tried.

The Final Dregs

Wolfburn isn’t a distillery we hear much about, maybe we understand why after trying these. For a relatively new distillery they don’t seem to have a high profile, it wasn’t one that drew me in despite my initial liking of the Aurora release.

I don’t have the Aurora to compare these to anymore, it is long finished. The official bottling was good, but maybe a bit of a disappointment to me, I had really hoped for something more. It certainly wasn’t offensive or bad in any way, in fact it seemed a good quality, smooth sipper but I would have preferred a bit more taste to excite me in it. Over time, this 12 year old did grow on me, and with repeated pours I came to appreciate it as a solid, dependable dram. It’s smooth, balanced, and easy to live with - but it doesn’t excite.

The Mystery Malt, while a step up in places, didn’t deliver the leap in character I’ve come to expect from Thompson Bros releases, and ultimately landed in much the same territory.

It leaves me to wonder who Wolfburn is aimed at? To me it feels like a distillery for the cautious drinkers rather than the curious - dependable, polite, and not challenging. There’s nothing wrong with that, but at this price point and in this crowded market, it leaves Wolfburn a bit overshadowed.

These are decent, but not memorable, drams and perhaps not evocative enough of the challenging, dynamic landscape they hail from.

Let us know if you’d like more of these “Official vs Indy” type comparisons in future.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. CC

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