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Reams of column inches have reported on the botched Nant investment scheme. A few hundred investors poured over $21 million into Keith Batt’s barrel program, which was, on the surface of it, designed to grow the Nant business and reward investors with a solid return. But it turned into a total fiasco, and investors tangled up in the mess were told their whisky casks were either worth a fraction of what was promised or might not even exist.
Peter Bignell, founder of Belgrove Distillery, was one of the earliest investors. Luckily, he got out early, back in 2014, when he sensed things weren’t quite right. ‘I knew things were a bit off, and thought it might have been a sort of Ponzy scheme,’ Bignell tells us.
But the award-winning distiller has always had a talent for transformation. So Bignell, his son Tom, and several other investors got together, formed The Remnant Whisky Company, and managed to purchase 300 of the Nant whisky barrels from investors. The company is now looking to turn the tarnished remnants of a bad situation into a positive we can all sit back and drink.
Bignell, who’s only managing blending and stock control for the business, was especially pleased to be able to help out ripped off investors. ‘I also had bad dealings with Nant chasing up payment for work I did at the distillery,’ Bignell says. ‘Those caught up in it we’re very keen to get out. A couple of them, they ended up getting there money back and a bit more. But most of them didn’t.’
The remnants. Nant whisky barrels now owned by The Remnant Whisky Company – Supplied
The barrels acquired are a mixture of ex-Bourbon, tawny and apera, and Bignell and the team will monitor their progress and bottle them in vattings when ready.
‘We’ll keep looking at the barrels as they age,’ Bignell says. ‘There’s a couple in there that are over-oaked already. But that’s fine, we’ll just blend those with some that don’t quite have enough wood. Some need a lot more aging, some need to be put into new barrels.’
‘There’s very few there that are a ride off. In fact, there’s one ride-off, but my son, he’s got a brewery, so he’s gonna make up his own cola and can it! It’s a bit over-wooded and feinty and I think it’ll mix really well with cola.’
The first bottling, reviewed below, dubbed ‘The Scoundrel’ (certainly not holding back), is a vatting of 12 casks that Bignell has been working on for a number of months. It’s now available to purchase on the The Remnant Whisky Company website.
