Cheap Scotch Blends

There are two types of Scotch whisky: Malt (derived from 100% barley) and Grain (from corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc.). When you combine the two you get Blended Scotch, and there are many blends available for around twenty-five dollars. These budget spirits have low ABV (alcohol by volume), with 40% being the minimum to qualify as Scotch.

The Edrington Group markets high-end whiskies such as The Macallan, Glenrothes and Highland Park, but their top selling brand in Scotland for the last 40 years has been The Famous Grouse. At 40% ABV, its character is rather anonymous, giving up only the mildest baking spices on the nose and palate. If you go to the website looking for details about the source spirits, you’ll only find generic fluff about Superior taste and Unique quality. I question the Unquestionable expertise behind the product when they miss bolding the final letter.

Highland Queen bears the slogan “A true legend since 1561” only because it takes its inspiration from Mary, Queen of Scots. The actual brand only dates back to 1893.

It is also bottled at 40% ABV, but twelve years of aging give the dram more personality. I found leather and grilled pineapple on the nose; the rounded palate had a sweet arrival and peppery finish. Adding a few drops of water brought out a lingering cinnamon and gingerbread finish.




The next Blended Scotch falls under the umbrella of Distell Group, owners of the Deanston, Tobermory and Bunnahabhain distilleries. At a slightly higher 43% ABV, Black Bottle gives off an aroma of rum cake and wood smoke. The sweet and smoky notes carry over into the palate with a suggestion of marshmallows charred over a campfire. The bold packaging and striking flavors leave anonymity far behind.

Blended Malt

For thirty-five dollars you can step up to a Blended Malt, meaning all Malt whisky, no Grain.

Jane Walker is a limited release in the Johnnie Walker family. The first edition was just a rebranding of Johnnie Walker Black Label, and the marketing approach “Because some women can find whisky intimidating” was a huge misfire. Master blender Emma Walker retooled the concept for the second edition by featuring malt from the Cardhu Distillery, which flourished under the guidance of Helen and Elizabeth Cumming.

Jane Walker 2.0 is a blend of malts aged for at least ten years and bottled at a curious 41.9% ABV. Rubbing the liquid released an aroma of spiced fruits, suggesting at least partial maturation in sherry casks. The disappointing palate was just a tannic, peppery ethanol. I tried the website’s suggested recipe for a Cool Jane: one part JW with two parts tonic water and four drops of vanilla extract. The result was an alarming concoction of vanilla grapefruit. A mixture of JW and cola leaned towards wintergreen. I had high hopes for this Blended Malt, but we didn’t click. So long, Jane.

The term Monkey Shoulder refers to the muscles of the shovelers who turn the barley on the malting floor. This whisky is a blend of malts from Balvenie, Glenfiddich and Kininvie, all owned by William Grant & Sons. I interpret the pewter appliqué of three monkeys on the bottle as a nod to the source distilleries.





The nose is divisive: to some it comes across as banana, to others it smells like a Band-Aid. On the tongue I found conflicting bittersweet notes of banana and radish. Bottled at 43% ABV, Monkey Shoulder is designed specifically for mixed drinks; the website offers multiple cocktail recipes. I tried it with cream soda for a pleasing cinnamon banana cream flavor. Mixing MS with cola earned a quick spit in the sink.

Famous Grouse, Highland Queen, Black Bottle, Jane Walker, Monkey Shoulder

To my eye, Highland Queen had the lightest color in the glass. This was surprising, given 12 years of barrel aging. Perhaps they were quiet, old, multi-filled casks. None of the labels say “natural color”, so it is safe to assume that some caramel E150 was added to the blends. The Black Bottle liquor was the darkest, no surprise at all.

My parting experiment was to blend all five together over ice. I was stunned to find this meta blend better than the sum of its part. The combination was sweet and spicy, tamping down the individual flaws I encountered. It was smoother than most Bourbons I have tried, and it could prove to be an ideal porch sipper for the coming summer.

Cheers!

Exceptional whisky?

What do you call an American venture that blends and bottles Scotch whisky? Sutcliffe & Son have labeled their brand The Exceptional. Don Sutcliffe, the managing director of Craft Distillers, teamed up with Willie Phillips, a former managing director of The Macallan, to source fine Scottish spirits and bring them to the American market. I ordered a sampler containing The Exceptional Grain, The Exceptional Malt and The Exceptional Blend to see if they were as exceptional as advertised.

How are the three styles different? A Grain whisky is made from corn, rye, wheat, barley or other grains, typically produced in a column still. Think of Bourbon as a grain whisky. Malt whisky is 100% barley, produced in a potstill (picture a large upside-down funnel). A Single Malt comes from a single distillery, but can be an aggregate of multiple casks, even of different ages. A Scotch Blend contains at least one Single Malt and one Grain whisky.

The Exceptional Grain states lower on the label “Blended Grain Scotch Whisky”. In this release Sutcliffe and Phillips combine Grain stocks from Loch Lomond, Strathclyde and the North British Distillery. The prize ingredient is 30-year-old spirit from a ghost distillery, Carsebridge, closed in 1983 and now demolished. The blend is finished in first-fill sherry casks before bottling.

The Exceptional Malt is “vatted”, meaning Blended Malt Scotch Whisky. The combination includes Single Malt from Alt-á-Bhainne, Auchroisk, Ben Nevis, Glenallachie, Glenfarclas, Speyside and Westport. There are three other unnamed distilleries, but the recipe boasts 30-year-old Macallan stock. The vatting is finished in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks.

The Exceptional Blend contains eleven Single Malts (including the 30-year Macallan) plus three Grain whiskies. The classification is Blended Scotch Whisky, and it is likewise finished in first-fill sherry casks. The Grain, Malt and Blend are all bottled at 43% alcohol by volume.

The tasting

In color, the Grain (sample A below) was the lightest of the three, the Malt (B) was the darkest, and the Blend (C) was understandably in between. I perceived the colors as pale gold, light bronze and light gold, respectively. The marketing material used a different palette but a similar spectrum: warm amber, golden amber and medium amber.

A = Grain, B = Malt, C = Blend

After pouring the samples I swirled the liquids to check their legs: the Grain formed a string of ornaments hanging from the collar of the jacket, with only a few tears weeping down the inside of the glass. The Malt formed a rope along the collar; after a minute a cascade of tears broke free. Some sediment clung to the side of the glass. The Blend had an early flow of rivers down the valleys of the ridgeline, later developing a string of ornaments.

My main enjoyment of whisky is exploring its variety of aromas. Rubbing the Grain on the back of my hand evoked kid leather, corn oil (suggesting corn as the predominant grain) and a creme-filled donut. There were other sweet notes in the glass: caramel, candy corn and almond butter. The Malt was earthier, with saddle leather, light smoke (which perhaps accounted for the residue in the glass), heather and honey. What a pleasure to get a whiff of Raisinets (chocolate-covered raisins) as well.

I found a similar note in the Blend, reminding me of Sunshine Golden Fruit – an American cookie (now discontinued) with puréed raisins baked in a thin crust. The association was so strong that I went online and ordered a dozen packages of the British equivalent, Crawford’s Garibaldi Biscuits, made with currants. (On a side note, Crawford’s was established in 1813 in Leith, Edinburgh, which brought me full circle back to Scotland.)

My least favorite part of whisky is the flavor. To me, most whiskies come off as peppered ethanol. I have to search deeper to find any engagement. The Grain hit me with sourness and dustiness (a characteristic of corn whisky), but underneath I found cinnamon Graham crackers. Adding a few drops of water brought out a creamy texture. The Malt started with smoky phenol and bitter radish, but holding the liquid mid tongue revealed a butteriness. The Blend was my favorite, with some faint cinnamon and butterscotch offset by olives. That said, all three drams improved with time in the glass.

Sutcliffe & Son sell The Exceptional Grain for $100, and The Exceptional Malt and The Exceptional Blend for $120 each. Would I spend $340 to have these bottles in my collection? Never. Was it worth $40 to get three 50 ml samples of these rare sourced blends? For a pleasant evening with my nose in a glass during sequestration, maybe just.

Cheers!

Discovering Glenmorangie

If you are looking to launch an exploration of Scotch whisky, here is a good starting point. Glenmorangie (glen-MOR-en-jee) is a Highland distillery on the northeastern coast of Scotland. Their entry-level product is widely available at a modest price, and it looks gorgeous in the glass.

I recently got the Discovery Set at an incredible price of 35 dollars (US). Inside the box is a full-size 750 ml bottle of Glenmorangie’s Original 10-year malt, plus two 50 ml singles of older expressions, Lasanta and Quinta Ruban. That’s like buying a regular bottle on sale and getting two free nips.

The Original is aged 10 years in ex-Bourbon casks, a fortuitous symbiosis of the American and Scottish whisky industries. Bourbon by definition has to be aged in new oak, meaning its barrels can only be used once. Scotch law allows refilled barrels, as long as they are made of oak. Scotland happily welcomes the American castoffs.

The Lasanta takes advantage of another source of barrels: Spanish Sherry. Historically, Sherry was shipped in large transport casks to Britain, where it was then bottled for public consumption. Since the casks were not shipped back to Spain, Scotch distillers had an abundant supply of oak that imparted a favorable character to the spirit. The Lasanta starts as the standard 10-year whisky and matures for an additional two years in Sherry casks. You can see the influence in the glass – the color is, well, more orangey. 

The Quinta Ruban finds another option: 12 years in ex-Bourbon oak with a two-year finish in Ruby Port casks. The result is a deep reddish-orange liquor. While the Original and Lasanta are presented at 43% alcohol by volume, the Quinta Ruban bumps it to 46%. The higher age and ABV make this a more expensive Scotch; I was glad to try the sample without having to splurge for a full bottle.

There is a spectrum of aromas in these drams: the Original is unmistakably a Chocolate Orange with a pinch of cinnamon. Deeper layers reveal lemon zest, salted caramel and allspice. The Lasanta keeps the chocolate orange in the background, with a more prominent note of sweet & sour glaze over smoked ham. The Quinta Ruban goes straight to sweet & sour pork rinds.

On the palate, the Original evokes cinnamon with a finish of bitter herbs. The Lasanta brings to mind salt smoke, if that’s a flavor. Be warned, the Quinta Ruban arrives with eggy sulfur and leaves with bitter walnuts. Perhaps it’s an acquired taste, but that’s the nature of an exploration – you have to try things first. I wish you Cheers and Bon Voyage on your whisky journey!