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Fahrenheit 173 - Whisky

"The king o' drinks, as I conceive it, Talisker, Isla or Glenlivit"   (R.L. Stevenson)

Six affordable blended Scotch whiskies

 30 Sep 2010  

When it comes to Scotch whisky, like most people I pre­fer the single malts to the blends. That said, I do enjoy a blended whisky every now and then. Of course, most blends are quite cheap (and young!) and the older, really good ones are hard to find. For this review I wanted to focus on cheap affordable whiskies for a change, so I selected six lesser known blends without age statements. On to my notes, from worst to best:

Lauder's:
Youngish nose with malt and a note of linseed oil. Also a little rough, earthy and spirity. The palate is more mellow and much nicer: sweet, creamy and malty with crème brûlée and toffee. All in all nice yet uneven. The malts are prominent yet quite young. (77 p)

Dewar's White Label:
Fairly quiet nose with pre­dom­in­antly grain whisky, with notes of toffee, citrus and peat, also a bit dry/dusty/rye-like. Light, sweet, smooth palate with toffee and apples. Rather nice finish with notes of liqourice and peat. All in all fairly young yet nice and more-ish. (79 p)

J&B Rare:
Tea, apples, oak and hint of smoke on the nose. Quite mild palate, sweet, also a little oaky, spicy and youngish but with nice notes of black tea and green fruits. The tea and fruits linger into the rather nice finish. All in all nice and complex but perhaps a bit splintered - quite en­ter­tain­ing though. (79 p)

White Horse:
Malt, peat, and a note of oak on the nose. It's youngish and a bit rough, however. The palate is spicy, peaty, power­ful but has a better bal­ance than the nose and de­velops nice notes of liqourice and toffee. Peaty but fairly one-dimensional finish. (79 p)

Whyte & Mackay Special:
Nice nose with honey, dried fruits and a nice grain note, also a little oak. Mild, smooth palate with a note of gin­ger­bread. It's at first fruity, sweet and creamy, then drying and de­velops spices. Dry, spicy, hot finish. Married in sherry wood which makes it sweet and smooth. It's impressively bal­anced except for the finish which is a tad too spicy. (80 p)

Cutty Sark:
Nice nose with notes of citrus fruits, juniper, tree sap and a hint of peat. Light, sweet, smooth, rather nice palate with refreshing notes of citrus fruits and a little oak. The peaty note returns in the finish together with the juniper. (81 p)

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