Indie bottler Hip debuts 200ml ‘flask-style’ collection
Hip’s small format bottlings of whisky and rum are said to focus on ‘delivering premium liquid at a more accessible price point.’
The inaugural release from Hip is a collection of four 200ml bottlings.
The collection includes the first 12 Year Old Tomintoul, aged in a refill Sherry butt, and bottled at 46% ABV; a 13 Year Old Bowmore aged in refill Bourbon barrels, sitting at 46% ABV; a 28 Year Old Invergordon aged in a first-fill Bourbon barrel, bottled at 46% ABV; and a 14 Year Old Foursquare Barbados Rum that was aged in Bourbon barrels and has an ABV of 53%.
Each one is priced at £19.50 (US$26) and is available in the UK from today (9 July) through the specialist off-trade including Luvians, Tyndrum Whisky, The Whisky World and The Good Spirits Co. All are non-chill filtered and bottled without added colouring.
Hip was created in 2026 by Connor McCartney and is supported by Stirling-based spirits distributor Kilninian Drinks, for which McCartney also works as business development manager.
McCartney told The Spirits Business: “I’m constantly out in the market, visiting retailers, building relationships and selling whisky. That gives me a front-row seat to what customers are buying, what’s becoming more challenging to sell, and where genuine gaps in the market exist.
“One thing I kept noticing was the 200ml category. 200ml bottles have largely been overlooked by brands. The products available often felt uninspiring, uninteresting and on the whole a bit dull, coupled with the pricing rarely reflecting value.”
The name Hip is said to derive from both the flask-style bottles chosen to deliver spirits in a smaller size and an ‘against-the-grain attitude.’
“With Hip, we’re not changing what independent bottling is, we’re changing the format of it and how people discover it,” McCartney added. “Our 200ml bottlings mean people can try more interesting whiskies, more often, with less cost, less commitment and risk.”
London-based interdependent bottler The Heart Cut has also branched out into smaller formats, offering 30ml ‘pocket pours’ individually and through The Slow Whisky Club subscription service.
Leith Bond, the independent bottling arm of Port of Leith Distillery, introduced 100ml cans of its single grain Table Whisky earlier this month.
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