Does this typo make a vintage whisky worth more?

Tuesday, 21 July 2026 at 16:05

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Whisky labels are bound by a striking number of rules. The whisky category must be clearly shown on the front, any age statement must be accurate, and the label may not give a misleading impression about origin or distillery. Yet even the strictest rules can’t protect against a simple human error. We all know the term NAS, “No Age Statement,” but what about a “No H Statement”?

There are several distilleries whose names are often misspelled, let alone mispronounced. Think of Caol Ila or Laphroaig, where the “a” and “o” sometimes get swapped. And what about Glenglassaugh, a name that’s easy to trip over in speech or on the page? Still, it’s rare for a typo like that to slip onto an actual whisky label.

The H as a tongue twister

For some distilleries, the letter “H” is where tongues—and spellcheckers—go wrong. One of them is Bunnahabhain, a name that can easily trip you up when writing it out. In 2020, the independent bottler Wemyss Malts released a 28-year-old single malt called “Untold Riches.” For this whisky, no fewer than 28 hogsheads and 3 sherry butts from Bunnahabhain were married into a single batch of 6,500 bottles.

As prescribed by the Scotch Whisky Association, independent bottlers must display their own name in larger type on the label than the distillery’s! In fact, some distilleries don’t even grant independent bottlers permission to name the distillery at all. That’s how creative designations like Secret Speyside, Unnamed Orkney, or Highland Harvest arise.

What is the No H Statement in whisky?

Back to the error Wemyss made on the label of the 28-year-old Untold Riches single malt. They forgot an “H” in the name of the distillery the casks came from. So the label shows, in smaller letters, “Bunnahabain” instead of “Bunnahabhain.” The second “h,” directly after the “b,” vanished from the label.

In doing so, Wemyss created a curiosity and among collectors, items like this are coveted. But is it sloppy for Wemyss to ship 6,500 bottles with a misspelled label, or actually clever?

The misprint stands out even more because Bunnahabhain is already notorious as a name whisky lovers easily stumble over when writing it. The same goes for names like Caol Ila, Bruichladdich, and Laphroaig.

Untold Riches: 31 casks, 1 single malt

Untold Riches was bottled in 2020 and released in early 2021. It marked a special release for Wemyss Malts. The bottler had already sold single-cask whiskies, but presented Untold Riches as its first carefully constructed single malt from multiple casks of the same distillery.

No fewer than 31 casks were combined for this whisky: 28 bourbon hogsheads and 3 sherry butts. The various casks were filled between November 1987 and December 1991. On the inside of the packaging, they even listed the individual cask numbers and fill dates.

Although the whisky comes from 31 different casks, it still qualifies as a single malt. In single malt, “single” doesn’t mean the whisky comes from a single cask; it means all the malt whisky used comes from one distillery. In this case, everything came from the warehouses of Bunnahabhain.

According to Whiskybase, the final batch consisted of 6,500 70cl bottles, bottled at 49.1% alcohol by volume (ABV). The whisky is non-chill-filtered and bottled without added color. The original UK RRP was about £149.95, though you won’t likely find a bottle at that price anymore.

Old books, dried fruit, and walnuts

Even without the typo, Untold Riches would have been a noteworthy bottling. The Bunnahabhain used was unpeated and combined the influence of bourbon casks with a smaller share of large sherry casks.

The official tasting notes mention leather, dusty books, antique wood, dark fruits, and maraschino cherries. On the palate, you’ll find walnuts, pecans, plums, dates, and banana bread. The finish brings saffron, clove, and nutmeg.

Reviewers described the whisky as refined and harmonious, with dried fruits, tobacco, nuts, gentle wood spices, and the saline notes often associated with Bunnahabhain. It wasn’t a heavy “sherry bomb,” but a balanced mature single malt in which the distillery character still shone through.

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Does this typo make the bottle more valuable?

A printing error doesn’t automatically make a bottle rare or expensive. With 6,500 examples, Untold Riches wasn’t exactly a tiny single-cask release. However, the error does make the bottling instantly recognizable. For collectors, that kind of anomaly can be appealing—especially when the bottle is unopened and the original box with the same typo is still present.

The missing “h” doesn’t change the whisky in the bottle, of course. But it does give the release a story that other 28-year-old whiskies don’t have.

FAQ

What does “No H Statement” mean?
“No H Statement” isn’t an official term, but a tongue-in-cheek label for the typo on Wemyss Untold Riches. The name Bunnahabhain was written as “Bunnahabain,” missing the second “h.”
Why can Untold Riches be called a single malt if 31 casks were used?
“Single” means all the whisky comes from one distillery. For Untold Riches, 28 bourbon hogsheads and three sherry butts from Bunnahabhain were married together.
Does the typo make Untold Riches more valuable?
A typo doesn’t automatically increase value. But this misprint makes the run of 6,500 bottles distinctive and instantly recognizable, which can make unopened bottles with the original packaging attractive to collectors.

Did You Know?