That Boutique-y Whisky Company arrived in 2012 with the good sense not to behave like a solemn old institution. Created by Atom Brands, it entered the whisky world with a rather different sort of confidence: playful in appearance, certainly, but serious in intent. Its now-familiar labels, drawn in a comic-book style and crowded with in-jokes, industry nods, and sly visual references, could easily have tipped into gimmickry in lesser hands. Instead, they became part of a broader identity, one that suggested whisky could be knowledgeable without becoming joyless, and distinctive without dressing itself in borrowed gravitas.

What has made the company endure is that the liquid has never been secondary to the label. The range has drawn from an unusually wide field, including Scotch single malt, grain whisky, bourbon, and other world whiskies, often from distilleries that are either seldom seen or no longer operating at all. That breadth has given the company a curatorial quality, less concerned with building a single house style than with presenting characterful spirits in small, memorable releases. It has also shown a marked preference for transparency, most notably when it moved away from non-age-statement labelling in favour of clearer age declarations, an unusually forthright step in an era when many producers were heading in the opposite direction.

If many independent bottlers trade on austerity, That Boutique-y Whisky Company has prospered by proving that wit and seriousness need not be enemies. Beneath the illustrated labels and slightly mischievous tone lies a firm understanding of what enthusiasts actually want: distinctive whisky, plainly presented, with enough individuality to justify its place on an increasingly crowded shelf. It manages, rather cleverly, to be both approachable and deeply insiderish, which is no small trick in whisky.