AN AWARD-WINNING whisky firm is raising a glass to its Dalgety Bay home with a new brand.

Hannah Whisky Merchants Ltd is based at West Way, the finest single malts are hand-bottled there before being exported around the world, and has toasted its hometown with its latest tipples.

‘Dalgety’ is the name of the new brand and, in a unique twist, even the labels glow in the dark, "in a reference to the local beach"!

Director Gregor Hannah said: "We are especially proud to be releasing this new brand which has a real focus on small batch and expresses our ties to the local area."

The firm, which he started from his home in Inverkeithing in 2012, is an independent bottler that produces the award-winning Lady of the Glen and St Bridget’s Kirk small batch blends.

The business is based on discovering the rarest of casks, such as from recently-closed distilleries or top-quality excess stock, and giving customers the chance to buy from an extremely limited edition.

Once sourced, the whisky may be re-racked, as putting it in a different style of cask gives it a different flavour.

When they're ready – and Gregor tastes them all himself before giving the green light – the brands are hand-bottled by a small team of four people.

Together with ambassador Paul McKendrick, he will hand select casks carefully from their portfolio to create unique, small batches of single malt whisky for each Dalgety release.

The first four releases are: 550 bottles of an 11-year-old Tormore, made up of refill ex-sherry casks and bottled at 50.5 per cent ABV; 554 bottles of a 13-year old Tamnavulin, made of a barrel and virgin oak finished barrel and bottled at 51.9 per cent ABV; 722 bottles of a 12-year-old Islay, made of ex-refill sherry casks and bottled at 51.8 per cent ABV; and 600 bottles of a 12-year-old Craigellachie, made of first-fill sherry casks and bottled at 49.9 per cent ABV.

The business is maturing nicely with connoisseurs and whisky-lovers both near and far keen to taste their product, with growing demand in the UK, a big market in Australia and it also exports to distributors in Belgium, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Canada.

Gregor explained: "As specialists in single casks for over 10 years with Lady of the Glen, it was felt that now was the right time to try marrying casks together to create unique flavours within the realm of single malt whisky.”

The new brand should be available in August, along with new batches of Lady of the Glen and St Bridget’s Kirk.

He added: "Dalgety will be offered out to the business’ current distribution channels and should hopefully be exporting to markets from Asia to Europe soon.

"Retailers and bars in the UK will also get initial access throughout August while stocks last."