Blended Scotch Whisky

Johnnie Walker Blender’s Batch Wine Cask Blend Whisky Review

Whisky giant Johnnie Walker looks to be having fun playing around within their experimental series known as Blender’s Batch.  Last year, the U.S. market saw the release of a 10-year-old Triple Grain American Cask whisky.  Just last month, Johnnie Walker dropped their Wine Cask Blend.  This new blend was led by Aimée Gibson, a member of the Johnnie Walker blending team.

According to a press release, Wine Cask Blend was influenced by experimentation of maturation in wine casks.  The NAS whisky is partly comprised of malts from Clynelish and Roseisle, and grain whiskies from Cameronbridge.  As the name states, some of the whiskies used in the blend were matured in wine casks.

If you’re expecting the signature smoky touch synonymous with Johnnie Walker, look elsewhere.  Wine Cask Blend is light and fruity on the nose, with a certain youthful character coming through at times.  Light malt and raspberries fill the nose, with hints of vanilla and green apples.  On entry, toffee apples and berries dominate.  Maybe some raspberry jam? Those notes provide the sweet side of the whisky, which is balanced by some citrus and a hint of spice.  There is slightly vibrant (read: young) malt in the midpalate.  The grain whiskies add a vanilla-tinged creaminess to the experience.  The clean finish features hints of a berry tart.

Bottled at 40% abv, Johnnie Walker Wine Cask Blend is a very smooth whisky.  The $29.99 per bottle asking price isn’t a big hit on your wallet.  I would say I’m not in love with this blend, but I’ve returned to it several times and have quite enjoyed each dram.  It’s different from any core range Johnnie Walker by a mile.  I’ve tasted this whisky neat each time I’ve gone to it.  Maybe it’s the summer heat, but I can see this in a sort of highball.  A few berries.  A splash of club soda.  A sprig or two of fresh mint or even an orange twist.  After all, this blend was designed with cocktails in mind.  That could explain the whisky’s airy and fruity character.  Bottom line, don’t expect a bold, smoky Johnnie Walker.  If light and fruity is your thing, Wine Cask Blend will be right up your alley. 7/10

Johnniewalker.com

Compass Box The Double Single Whisky Review


A lot of blended whisky is sold around the world.  A lot.  The majority is composed of dozens of different component grain and malt whiskies.  It leaves the whiskies palatable.  Perhaps more importantly, the use of many whiskies allows for consistency from batch to batch.  If a particular whisky is in short supply, blenders will slightly change the blend ratios or even add other component whiskies to make their blended whisky.

Compass Box’s John Glaser thought it would be interesting to strip a blended whisky to its core. Enter The Double Single – a blended whisky composed on one grain whisky from Girvan and one malt whisky from Glen Elgin.  Glaser used 72% Glen Elgin from re-charred bourbon hogsheads and 28% Girvan from re-charred bourbon barrels.  The Double Single is a very small bottling of 5,838 bottles.  If this were a large scale release, I doubt this whisky would be a reality because of the availabilty of the two component whiskies used.

So… how is it?

Pretty good, actually.  The fruit-forward nose features crisp orchard fruit, with an emphasis on apples and pears.  Honey, vanilla, oat cereal and floral notes round off the nose.  The whisky is initially sweet on the palate, with hints of rich honeyed malt, spiced apples & pears, and ripe apricot.  Some baking spice on the midpalate mingles with a splash of grapefruit juice.  A hint of oak on the back of the palate rounds out this rich, fruity whisky.  The finish is rather clean, with honey, sweet malt and citrus.

I’ve quite enjoyed just about everything I’ve tasted from Compass Box.  No surprise here, but I like this one.  It’s concurrently crisp and rich, with enough complexity to keep me going back for more.  Here’s one bottle I’ll have to keep a lookout for.  Highly recommended.  8.5/10

Thanks to Compass Box for the sample.  As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tasting My Way Through a Dewar’s Vertical

A few weeks ago I poured a glass of Dewar’s White Label.  While I played catch up on my DVR, I remember taking a long, slow sip of whisky and thought it’d be interesting to go through the entire Dewar’s core line.  I was curious how the blends changed with age, from the 12-year-old to the 15, 18 and non-age stated Dewar’s Signature.  Then I thought it’d be fun to try some of the malts that go into Dewar’s.

So I reached out to Dewar’s, and not only did they send me samples of their core lineup, I was also sent a sample of 12-year-old expressions of Aberfeldy, Aultmore, The Deveron and Royal Brackla.  This post will focus on the Dewar’s blends first.  All are bottled at 40% abv.

Bottle photography courtesy of Dewar's.

Bottle photography courtesy of Dewar’s.

DEWAR’S 12-YEAR-OLD

Compared to the standard White Label, Dewar’s 12-year-old expression immediately benefits from a sweeter, fruitier nose, with ripe pears, honeyed malt and a bit of lemon rind.  Light toffee and candied lemon peel lead the palate, giving way to corn flakes and some stewed red fruits.  The finish is abrupt, leaving a lingering grainy note behind.  Pleasant, but not a huge upgrade from the standard White Label for me.  7/10

DEWAR’S 15-YEAR-OLD

The nose here is similar to the younger 12-year-old whisky, but contains a richness that leads me to suspect there’s a bit more malt in this blend.  Clove honey and spiced apples lead the nose, with some freshly squeezed lemon juice and wheat bread in the background.  A light burst of spice and honeyed malt develop into toffee, lemon custard and cereal grains.  The medium finish leaves behind a sweet and slightly tart note.  Dewar’s 15-year-old offers a better experience than its two younger siblings, and is worthy of a pour.  7.5/10

DEWAR’S 18-YEAR-OLD

What does three more years of maturation add to the table?  For starters, it’s still Dewar’s, which means it’s still subdued.  But what’s here is nice.  The nose has caramelized fruit, orange blossom honey, orange marmalade, with hints of figs and oak.  Even more flavorful than the enjoyable 15-year-old expression, Dewar’s 18 offers stewed red fruit, baked pie crust, honey, and lemon rind, with some toasted oak and vanilla bean.  The sweet malty finish is a touch longer than younger expressions.  I like this one as much as the 15-year-old, but for different reasons.  I found a touch more spice on that one, where here oak (and all it carries) finally starts to make an appearance.  7.5/10

DEWARS’S SIGNATURE

The Johnnie Walker Blue of Dewar’s, so to speak.  That’s how I described this to my wife when handing her the glass for a sip.  Truth is, there’s no age statement on Dewar’s Signature.  It’s older malt and grain whiskies blended with younger ones.  Age is a number, it’s not everything.  The richest of all Dewar’s blends, the nose here is full of dark toffee, spiced green pears, dark fruits, and French vanilla ice cream.  On first sip, I get a viscosity that leads me to believe there is a high percentage of malt whiskies in the blend.  It almost feels like a good single malt.  Light brown sugar, candied red fruits, toasted oak and slightly burnt orange peel fill the palate.  Toasted malt and cinnamon sticks appear towards the back palate.  That slight spice carries into the long, sweet malty finish.  8/10

Based solely on flavor, I’d name Signature as my favorite Dewar’s blend.  But if we’re talking value, I’m tied between the 15- and 18-year-old expressions.  Each expression takes the Dewar’s sweet malty flavor profile a step further, culminating with the excellent, but pricey, non-age statement Signature.