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Grant's 18yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£ $ ? can't find a price
The last in a series of blended whiskies I have been running on Dr. Whisky and I have been reassured that blends do not deserve the bad reputation they currently have. Folks who know Dr. Whisky know that he loves blends, their flavour, diversity, and history. Sure, the hundreds of 3 year old no age statement blends branded as Clan ____ and Glen _____ and Royal _____ have tarnished this reputation, but I hope the past few posts have redeemed the category for readers. A blend is often bad, but that is not the nature of the beast. It cannot be said that blends are worse than single malts. As I have said before, the best whiskies I have tried have probably been single malts, but the WORST whiskies I have tried had definitely been single malts. This Grant's Rare Old 18yo is finished in port casks, sort of a marrying period for the blend.
When Pattison's blending house went bankrupt in 1898 it brought down many distilleries and distilling companies with it. The "Pattison Crash" as it came to be known (see THIS for all Dr. Whisky posts that mention this monumental moment in whisky history) left many expecting the end of the whisky industry. William Grant saw an opportunity. He had built to distilleries at that point, Glenfiddich ain 1887 and Balvenie in 1892, and by the end of the century has had started his own blending house and grew into exporting with the help of his son and son-in-law, John and Charles. Charles, famously determined, made his first sale after 181 calls; his second after his 503rd. Meanwhile, John began exporting to The Hudson Bay Company of Canada. Today, Grant's blended whisky is sold in over 180 countries but this particular marque is really hard to find. Unfortunately.
For more info on William Grant and Sons and their whiskies enjoyed thus far on the mission, click HERE.
Thanks to the WG&S folks for getting this for me and to JB for travelling to the US with it.
TASTING NOTES:
Grain whisky leads with a sweet breadiness, vanilla wafers, and a deep and provocative oakiness. The malt whiskies are heavy, oily, salty, very Highland in style (Scapa, Dalmore, Clynelish, even Cragganmore from Speyside) and some papaya or tropical fruitiness that lifts the malt density. Meringue, bubblegum, suntan lotion, damp cutting boards, metal like guitar strings, toffee, lime... the aroma is among the most complex I have encountered.
Whoa, different direction. Malt leads with more of an Islay oiliness now, smoke and tar, prunes, woody and aged. Chewy and full, like decadent chocolate brownies, slightly savage and satisfying like grabbing the ass of someone you love and have longed for. Incredibly long oaky finish with heavy grain notes like rye bread, tobacco smoke, and the freshness of cedar. Flavours linger. And linger.
SUMMARY:
Years ago, Dave Broom wrote the following words about this dram, "So thick and honeyed you could paint it on your lover's body." Brilliant note, and not wholly inaccurate. This is a delicious drop rich with complexity and, as DB implies, sensually smooth.
Avoid ice. I feel the need to say this as the few countries lucky enough to have this bottling in their markets probably drink all Scotch on the rocks or in mizuwari. AVOID ICE. This is blending that should be celebrated and appreciated as a constant reminder that this incredible art, this incalculable skill, is what initially brought the world of whisky to a world of whisky drinkers. We are still here, if you'll have us... we bow in your presence.
Malt Mission #321
Malt Mission #322Malt Mission #323
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Malt Mission HOME
Buchanan's 18yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
$80 (USD)
Usually the question is "how much is this whisky?" or "how much is that whisky here?", but in the case of Buchanan's 18yo, the question in my experience has been "WHERE is this whisky?" Upon moving from the UK to America I learned that on the back of the latin population's love of Buchanan's in many of their home countries in South America, we get the good fortune of its presence in the USA. And the people rejoiced.
For more on James Buchanan and to see all whiskies in this family of blends had on the mission, click HERE. Now if I could just get my hands on some of that Red Seal.
TASTING NOTES:
Sweet and fleshy like a baby's skin. Lots of tropical fruit like mangos and an aromatic earthiness that is sweet like tobacco but dirty like mud. Creamy, evocative and provocative.
Luscious and creamy, peat and burnt sugar, toast and honey, bananas, stewed carrots, and brown rice. Wonderful balance and very hard to resist refilling the glass.
SUMMARY:
A perfectly round ball of flavour that is neither too much this nor too much that but ticks all boxes of sweet, sour, salty, and smoky. Upon reflection, my favourite element is the outright lack of overt oakiness until way late in the finish when old perfumy grandfather clock woodiness makes an appearance.
Malt Mission #321
Malt Mission #322Malt Mission #323
Malt Mission #325
Malt Mission HOME
Johnnie Walker Gold 18yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£52.99
$99.95(CAD)
$75 (USD)
The last of the Johnnie Walker colour hierarchy for me to taste formally on the mission. I promise the delay was not intentional as I had plenty of opportunities to drink the stuff (and man, did I), but not until very recently did I have the chance to taste it in the controlled environment of Dr. Whisky's lab in the controlled method of the Malt Mission.
I do find it hilarious to see new (and old, for that matter) whisky websites tasting and rating whiskies they tried at a distillery, or outside at Feis Isle, after 3 glasses of wine at their uncle's place for dinner, or after 15 other malts at DrunkFEST Chicago, or... Not exactly fair, nor representative of the true flavours of the whisky. Sure, no matter how or when you drink the stuff your impressions will be wholly subjective and by no means absolute (hate to disappoint some of you aspiring MJs and misguided JMs), but at least attempt to have some semblance of control otherwise your authority is nullified immediately and your notes are of no use to anyone but yourself. Maltsterbating, I suppose. By this I mean that WHEN and IN WHAT TYPE OF GLASS are probably the only elements of tasting, of being impressed upon by a malt whisky, that you can control. Without some consistency in the tasting ritual, ESPECIALLY if you are going to have the arrogance to criticise and rate and give scores, you are doing nothing more than jerking off into the toilet. Useless.
Some surfing alerted me to the presence of much misinformation about Johnnie Walker Gold so let me verify that this is a BLENDED whisky: it is made up of 15 or more single malt whiskies mixed with grain whiskies. This does not make it "better" or "worse", it is just different than a single malt or a blended malt whisky. Although the Walker's were grocers in Kilmarnock from 1820, it was in the 1850s that they became whisky blenders and today the name Johnny Walker is synonomous with quality blended Scotch whisky.
For more info and for all Johnnie Walker's had on the mission, click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Spicy, sweet, winey, and smoky. Red grapes and orange oil, honey and malt, some licorice and stewed cloves. Lots going on in a really co-dependent style.
Soft but full flavours flow across the tongue with sweet smokiness, honey, and some mango and papaya. Gentle but immensely rich.
SUMMARY:
Talisker elements of smoke, salt and pepper, creamy and honeyed elements of Clynelish, with plenty of speyside fruitiness like Linkwood and/or Glen Elgin. Really delicious, harmonious, and classy blending.
Malt Mission #321
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Ladies and Laddies, at your request, the second installment of Dr. Whisky's top whisky, and whisky-related picks for Christmas. Not necessarily cheap whisky nor a lot of Christmas whiskey, but a few things worth every penny and things that would make good gifts for those whisky nerds in your life.
BEST WHISKY ONLINE OFFERS and SALES
The Whisky Exchange
Ardbeg Uigeadail £38.50
Bunnahabhain 25yo £145
Clynelish Distillers Edition £35
Elements of Islay Set £100
Talisker 25 £87
Royal Mile Whiskies
Ardmore Traditional £23
Kilchoman Connoisseurs Pack £20
Royal Island 17yo £25
Royal Island 30yo £55
Glenfarclas 25yo £82.95
For Scotch Lovers.com
Talisker Sampler Pack (20cl bottles of 10, 18, and Distillers Edition) $50
Tomatin 25yo $125
The Balvenie 17yo $135
BEST CHRISTMAS WHISKY GIFTS
Social Christmas Gifts
Joining the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is worthwhile for any malt drinker and would make a wonderful gift that keeps on giving as newletters, bottling lists, and tasting event listings arrive by mail year round. In the UK, there are members rooms in Edinburgh [Leith Vaults (mentioned in a past Dr. Whisky post HERE) and Queen St.] and London (Greville St.) and they are absolutely stunning venues and great spots to entertain guests... or just yourself.
In the USA, the SMWSA is equally wonderful but operates slightly differently. You still reveive mail and have access to an exclusive list of soctiety bottlings, but it is much more a network of friends, bottles, and events that come to you! Twice a year, the SMWSA tours the country hitting larger cities with the best consumer whisky fairs in the country. They never oversell tickets so there is always room to move, good food to eat, and the Shayne family and friends do such a great job (and are such wonderful people), paying membership to be invited to their tasting events is worth every single penny.
And their new bottle design is absolutely stunning. Nice work, guys!
Readable Christmas Whisky Gifts
The Malt Whisky Yearbook 2009: Another edition of the annual must-have from Ingvar Ronde, a book full of enough basics to educate the new whisky enthusiast, enough info entertain the casual whisky drinker, and enough detail to satisfy the real whisky nerds among us. As usual, the book includes detailed bios on all operating (and many closed) distilleries, stats and commentary on the year that was, info on websites (including this one), and an absolutely brilliant section of articles with contributions from Charles Maclean, Ian Buxton, Walter Schobert, Dominic Roskrow, David Stirk, Gavin D. Smith. This easy to transport and easy to read softcover is part magazine, part book, part distillery guide, part industry report and ALL amazing reading with brilliant new additions every year. No other book but the Malt Whisky Yearbook travels with me everywhere my malt mission takes me, and there is good reason for that.
Richard Paterson (and Gavin D. Smith's) Goodness Nose is a brand new book that has been in the works for longer than you can imagine. The subtitle, "The Passionate Revelations of a Scotch Whisky Master Blender" is pretty accurate and shamelessly embraces the confident but charming tone of Richard himself that permeates every page. Paterson is a third generation blender whose knack for recounting our shared cultural history, weaving it with the history of Scotch whisky, and draping it with his insightful wit is unmatched, either in his presentations or in the pages of this carefully crafted book. My own interest in blended whisky gets nourished with this book as few but Paterson can offer parallel insight into its history and craft. And he is not one to hold back.
Robin Laing's The Whisky River (or HERE): Laing's well-written guide to Willie Nelson... just kidding. This is an intentionally and incidentally poetic guide to the distilleries of Speyside told in a way only Laing can, with song and spirit on every page. A delight to read.
Charlie Maclean's Whisky Tales or Maclean's Miscellany of Whisky (hardback and softcover available): Two books from one of the world's greatest whisky scholars that are absolute fun to read cover to cover or one section at a time. Unique books in the world of whisky lit: no tasting notes or chronological histories... just the best stories and factual tidbits told by a brilliant writer with an obvious passion for his topic.
and, of course, for the real fact nut
Misako Udo's The Scottish Malt Whisky Distilleries(hardback also available): The life, times, still size and phenolic content of every (legal?) malt distillery to have existed in Scotland. Amazing attention to detail with the new addition of brief distillery summaries.
Drinkable Christmas Whisky Gifts
The malts above are all well-suited for Xmas and are just a selection of the various offers at each outlet made by yours truly with Christmas in mind.
A good Christmas whisky should be pleasant to drink for both new and experienced whisky drinkers. An added bonus is if they have some rich, winter-warming spice, dried fruit, etc.
(Buy one bottle of sherry this year, too. As whisky lovers, we need to support the Spanish sherry industry!)
So here are a nice round SEVEN recommended Christmas Whiskies, irrespective of price, but hopefully there is something for everyone's budget (and nothing that demands hiring a detective to find):
Grant's Family ReserveJohnnie Walker 12yo Black Label
The Balvenie 17yo Rum Cask
Glengoyne 17yo
Bunnahabhain 25yo
Glenfarclas 30yo
Glenmorangie Signet
Hope this has been of use. If you have any whisky questions, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Whisky for a prescription.
In the UK? Check out Joel and Neil's top whisky Xmas gifts at CASKSTRENGTH.NET
In DC? Check out ScotchChix for their update of cheap whisky in the US Capitol.
Beyond the world of whisky, check out Camper English's ALCADEMICS gift picks.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
Cutty Sark 15yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£30
$71.35 (CAD)
Like many age statement blends, Cutty Sark 15 year old is a whisky that certainly has a higher profile and availability in certain niche markets than in others. Whisky nerds like Maltakias have probably seen this ad before.
For more history on the brand and to see all Cutty Sarks had on the Malt Mission, click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Incredibly apple-y. Apple crisp, brown sugar, cinnamon. Creamy, sweet, and spicy.
Super smooth, pleasant and juicy with apples, dry white wine, and maple syrup. Sticky with oak and generally juicy sweet.
SUMMARY:
Yum! An absolutely delicious Speyside-style blend with only the faintest smoke to whisk through the orchards of flavour.
Malt Mission #321
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Malt Mission HOME
Black and White
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£15
$24 (USD)
$27.95 (CAD)
Been a while since Dr. Whisky has had a blended whisky week here on the mission, so let's start one now. Absurd that I keep measuring in weeks of five malt missions considering I have rarely posted more than twice per week since June 2008. Whatever. The formula works.
In the mid 1880s, James Buchanan started a London blending business selling whisky in distinctive black bottles with white labels. The official name was The Buchanan Blend of Fine Old Scotch Whiskies and was eventually popularised by the name his customers had given it, Black & White. The brand name Black & White was registered in 1905 and the famous coupling of a white west highland terrier and black Scottish terrier began being used to advertise the product. Over the next decade the blend found its way into homes, bars, clubs, and theatres and became the exclusive supplier to the House of Commons.
Buchanan built Glentauchers distillery (with W.P. Lowrie) to ensure a supply of good malt for the blend. Dalwhinnie has traditionally been a constituent part over the years as well and Buchanan at oen time owned now closed distilleries Convalmore and Port Ellen. The brand joined with Dewars before joining with John Walker and Sons and then Distillers Company Limited (DCL), a partnership known at the time as "The Big Amalgamation."
Today, Black and White still sells well in mainly export markets (although it was recently reintroduced to the UK market) and is affectionately remembered for its clever adverts and marketing items, most of which are highly treasured by collectors. The LCBO website indicates "PRODUCT DISCONTINUED". With this old reliable blend gone from LCBO shelves, I wonder what Companion of the Quaich-er Michael Riley will put in its place? So much for CanCon, too... James Buchanan was born in Ontario in 1849.
TASTING NOTES:
Soft and vanilla-ed like ice cream, the kind where "cream" actually appears in the ingredients. Unripe kiwis, light citrus, and a little celery salt.
Immediately sweet, and slightly smoky, salty even, then a bit souring, some pepper and oak.
SUMMARY:
Definitive standard blend. Predominantly sweet without much else to compete. Balanced, simple, and generally innoffensive.
Malt Mission #320Malt Mission #322
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Malt Mission HOME
Rosebank 25yo (1981)
Lowland Single Malt Whisky
61.4% abv
£130
First, I would ask you to draw your attention to is the abv of this puppy. Yowza.
Second thing is that I appreciate the emails of encouragement in spite of the fact that my posting rate has been irregular at best. THANK YOU. And thanks to those who continue to send samples. Dr. Whisky has no intention of stopping this mission, and goodness knows he hasn't; he just struggles to find time to write about it.
Third, YES, I will be doing a Christmas Picks post again where I list Dr. Whisky's choices of the best whisky to give (or receive) this Christmas, including whisky books and other stuff for the malt lover in your life.
Fourth, let's taste this gem from the closed Rosebank distillery. Hey! This is the first Rosebank had on the mission... Amazing. Well, sorry it has taken so long. It is a wide wide world of whisky out there.
Originally converted from the maltings at Camelon Distillery in Falkirk, Rosebank distillery was situatied on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal and, many believe, was "murdered" when in the late 1980s, DIAGEO decided to include Glenkinchie as one of its classic malts for the lowland region. Too little too late, but the world has since learned what fine spirit was being produced at this distillery, one of the last to practice triple distillation. It is said that there might still be some Rosebank contributing to Johnnie Walker Swing. Who knows?
This is one of 4,170 bottles produced. Today, notes are by TF, with a few additions by yours truly.
TASTING NOTES:
Waxy, sweet; plenty of forward oak, sweet orange, some butterscotch, fudge, spices, cloves. Big, powerful alcoholic prickle. It is over 120 proof! Rye bread, and some wine-like characteristics. Floral notes eventually fight their way through, along with ginger and melon. With water, becomes more biscuity and develops honey notes.
Big oak surge, then the alcohol, zoink! Oily with immense hot pepper and spice, clove and chilli seeds. Very full and oily. As the initial alcohol burn dies away, amazing polished malt comes through to spar with the spices. Delicious. Through the finish, lovely unctuous malt continues to envelop the tastebuds. The length is phenomenal. The clove and cracked black peppercorns have the last word.
COMMENTS:
Oof! This is a monster (in a good way). The official literature refers to this as 'ripe and mellow'. You're having a laugh, mate - ripe, perhaps; mellow? er, I think not. Clearly aged Rosebank has a different profile to the old 8yo people raved about. Hats off to whoever selected the casks for this - it emphatically gives the lie to the received wisdom that Rosebank had to be bottled young.
Thanks, Tim.
Malt Mission #316
Malt Mission #317
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Malt Mission HOME
Highland Park 16
Island Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£35
Twenty (20!) days since my last Dr. Whisky post and it is not for lack of dramming. Been crazy busy with work and the whiskevangelism has taken me west to Chicago, further to San Francisco and LA, south to Tampa and Miami with roadtrips to Boston, Washington and Philadelphia in between. And yes, a few drams have been had. Have been very fortunate to meet many amazing folks and to see the best and worst bits of this disparate and expansive land. Stories to come in my published chronicles, "Dr. Whisky's Casebook"... heheh.
I recently met Martin Daraz, Highland Park's Ambassador here in the USA. Martin is infected with a sharp wit and the only remedy is, you guessed it, uisge. He insisted on calling me DOCTOR so I insist on featuring some HP sauce on my return to the mission. This expression is only available at Duty Free in the UK (elsewhere?)
Tasted with PK. His notes appear in quotes. For all Highland Parks had on the mission, click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Cocktail orange. "Bright notes, a lot of candy, fresh, open feeling as well. Candy floss" Slightly winey, honeyed. Woody, "yeah, like fresh construction." This oaky element develops over time, with malty sweetness, opening up to melon and green strawberries. "A light hint of darkness, not ebony, but mahogany. Goes towards the dark."
Dry at first with a candied plum, and a flambéed sugar toastiness. "It's got a bite. Definitely." Floral and sweet like white port ("yeah, vin santo"), some sherry spiciness, but dry and quite oaky. Grapefruit. Lavender candies. And again, oak.
SUMMARY:
Patience is this dram's friend. With time and air "it suits a spring-feel, bright notes and playfulness. Warm sunlight in cool air, blossoms and, I don't want to go over the top here, but sort of free (hand genstures), you know what I mean?" It must be said, Paul is expressive in art and music as well as whisky-soaked verbiage.
I loved taking my time with this and each nosing or tasting brought new impressions. Distinctly different from the 12 or 18 year olds, and endlessly fascinating. Just enough dry edge to to be puckering and encourage another sip. Might match very well with creamy sweetness like creme brulée or certain cheeses. And the Scotch Chix dug it.
Malt Mission #316
Malt Mission #317
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Malt Mission HOME
Macallan 15yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£40
$124.95 (CAD)
$78(USD)
This is from the Fine Oak range of Macallans that are matured in refill, ex-bourbon, and some ex-sherry casks. Is that enough to justify the utterly obscene price at the LCBO (see above)? Wow. For a standard bottling? Seems nuts, but I guess those crazy Canucks buy it. I can think of a few other drops I might prefer for 125 bucks.
Reminds me of something I saw in an email from my friend Doug Stone at FORSCOTCHLOVERS.COM. He has partnered with Carol Iselin and Dave Sugar, the creative minds behind Inner Light Crystal Studios in New York, to create only 21 hand-carved bottles of Macallan Fine Oak 21yo. Now there is something that might be worth the spend. Take a look HERE.
Macallan, one of Speyside's most legendary distilleries is undergoing a bit of renovation. I was able to visit the Macallan distillery in August and see some of the construction they were doing to increase production, storage, and tour-ability of the site. A whole new process house is being created and, I imagine, will be the showroom of production so the tours needed walk so far into the plant (or so near the steel washbacks).
For more distillery info and to see all Macallans had on the Malt Mission, click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Oaky and spicy, waxy and woody. A carpentry shop with hard honeydew, white rind of watermelon, cinnamon, and quite lush with vanilla.
Buttered white toast, nutty oiliness, with toffee and bitter chocolate. Oak throughout, even a bit cardboardy. Great movement in the finish where the vanilla-ed oak blossoms and lingers for some time.
SUMMARY:
The nose is pleasant, oaky, and sweet but the alcohol is quite aggressive causing strong prickles with even shallow nosings. Square on the palate with distinct regions of flavour that give an overall rounded impression. But again, the alcohol tingles and this will be a challenging feature for many. Certainly improves with time in the glass and a few drops of water.
Malt Mission #316
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Scapa 14yo
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£30
$56.96 (CAD)
$45(USD)
NOMINATED in the 2008 DRAMMIES
*Most Under-rated whisky
Vote HERE (before Mar 6, 2009)
Based on the northern Orkney islands, Scapa is somewhat of a neglected jewel in the Pernod Ricard (Chivas, Glenlivet, Aberlour) portfolio. The distillery is only producing spirit 3 days a week. It is unsual in still using a lomond still, although it is operated as a normal still today (the parallel plates have been removed), and Scapa practices the longest fermentation time of any distillery: 160 hours.
This Scapa 14 expression replaced the Scapa 12 (Malt Mission #67) expression in 2004 and the rumours are that a Scapa 16 may be soon replacing this 14yo. To be fair, this sort of thing makes sense as their stocks from a period of when the distillery was mothalled (1994-2004) must be very limited as the only spirit produced during these years was when staff from the nearby Highland Park distillery would come by for a couple months per year to fire up the stills. So most the stock to be used to make a well-rounded spirit may actually be quite a bit older than 12, 14, or 16 (hence the age jumps, and justifiable price jumps).
For more distillery info or to see all Scapas had on the Malt Mission, click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Powdered candied sweets. Earth, soil and salt, oak and fruits. Little jojoba. FunDip. Really quite appetising.
Soft and juicy, like actual juice... and booze. Toffee sweet, drying with time. Dirtier and drier with time. Feels good in the mouth.
SUMMARY:
Extremely enjoyable. Light nose, heavier body, sweet and salty dram with few comparisons.
Malt Mission #316
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Malt Mission HOME
