A look at the Heart of the Blends

Throughout its history, the drinking of Scotch has gone through three distinct eras. The original age of single malts was roughly 1500-1800, wherein whisky was drunk straight off the stills with no maturation, sometimes mixed with lemon and spices or with warm water and sugar as a toddy…all to disguise its harsh flavor. 

By about 1740 it is thought that those who could afford it, would lay down casks for aging and reap the benefit of the mellowing and flavoring of the spirit from its time spent in the wood. Even at this time, Scotch quality from distillery to distillery was very uneven and even from the best distilleries the strong flavors were thought to be too harsh for refined palates. Until coal was available in the highlands all barley would have been dried over peat fires and would have had a very peaty flavor.

Large groceries and distributors of Scotch began to experiment in blending to produce a less harsh and a more consistent and refined product for their customers. Some of these early experiments and blends are now well-known brands such as Famous Grouse, established by Matthew Gloag in about 1814; in about 1824 Johnnie Walker brand came about through the work of wine and spirit merchant Walker, Johnston & Co. Ballantine, Chivas, Dewar, Bell and Usher were all individuals whose blending talents created brands we still know today.  Later, about 1850, the advent of continuous or column-stills also made grain alcohol for blending, cheap and plentiful. (Blends are single malts combined with grain alcohol.)

Even up until the late 1970s, 99% of single malt production went towards blends. Often, single malt drinkers were only able to get their singles by direct contact with distilleries, or through local outlets near distilleries.

From roughly 1824-1969 is the era of the blend. Although a limited number of single malts were available during these years, it was really Glenlivet that pioneered marketing single malts internationally and it did so just after the repeal of prohibition in 1933. Since blends were king, and they were relatively mild in flavor, Glenlivet fit right in, but in the 1960s-70s the second age of single malts began. In 1963 Glenfiddich distillery decided to set aside stock for future marketing as single malts. Other distilleries soon followed their lead partly because the price of blends was stagnant and low. Glenmorangie and Macallan in the 1970s and Lagavullin, Linkwood, Rosebank, Talisker and Royal Lochnagar in the ‘80s followed suit.

But what of those blends that still dominate? There must be a reason. Well one reason is as it always was…a way to take the rough edge off singles and reduce the price.  Another reason is that blending takes the best of singles and makes them better in combination.  For this reason it seems logical to take a look at the “heart” of three of the most popular blends.

Tonight we’ll sample the “hearts” of Teacher’s Highland Cream, Dewar’s White Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label 12-yr old.

Dewar’s is the largest selling blend in the US and Johnnie Walker Black is the largest selling premium blend in the world.

The “recipe” for blends is a closely guarded secret. Also “secret” is the fact that these recipes change from time to time as distilleries are closed or wish to release less of their products for blending, or distilleries are bought and sold. Many blenders have bought the key distilleries in their blends to ensure a consistent product.

According to some, these are the key ingredients in their recipes:

Dewar’s White Label - Aberfeldy or Glen Ord, Oban, Craigellachie, Aultmore, MacDuff (Glen Deveron), Benrinnes

Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 year old – Benrinnes, Mortlach, Royal Lochnagar, Talisker

Teacher’s Highland Cream - Ardmore, Glendronach, Imperial, Ardbeg

                                                                     

Aberfeldy 12, the heart of Dewar’s, is bottled at 40%ABV and is aged in ex-Bourbon barrels. Dewar’s celebrated 160 yrs in business in 2006. Bacardi owns Dewar’s. Not surprisingly they own Craigellachie, Brackla, MacDuff and Aultmore distilleries, all of which make up this blend. Aberfeldy is located in Perth, which is in the central Highlands of Scotland, South of Speyside. Abrefeldy also bottles a 21-yr old. The name is pronounced AberFELdy. Its origins are Pictish and Old Gaelic meaning confluence of Palladius, probably a river named for a Christian missionary.

Reviews:

John Hansel of Malt Advocate rates Aberfeldy 12 an 82

“Fresh and floral, with lively tropical fruit, honey, and vanilla. Gentle on the palate, with a slight syrupy texture to its malty foundation. Youthful, orange marmalade finish with a hint of spice. A pleasant, easy-going whisky.”

In Whisky Magazine

Michael Jackson gave this dram a 7 1/2

Nose: Fragrant. Orange-zest. Light smokiness. Incense. Touch of sherry.

Palate: Light on the tongue. Oily. Emphatically clean fruitiness. Tangerines. Very lively, fresh, flavours.

Finish: Like biting into a kumquat. Then a long, fruity glow.

Comment: Refreshing and light-hearted. Almost too playful to take seriously.

Jim Murray, also in Whisky Magazine, gave an 8 1/2

Nose: Beautifully intense malt with a cidery-apple fruitiness. Gentle oak and honey round off superbly.

Finish: Softly spiced with a long, rich

malt follow-through.

Comment: Really outstanding example of massively complex, classy but undiscovered malt.

In Jim Murray’s 2008 Whisky Bible, he is more eloquent:

With an overall score of 90 he says the nose is: softly honeyed, rich and clean. Of the palate he says: lighter in body than the nose suggests, a prick of first smoke, then spice, but the honey develops. Overall he states: I have long loved this malt and it shows to good effect here although I’m not sure if the strength does it any favors, though as distillery bottlings go, at 40% this has now become super-league stuff.

Awards:

Gold Best in Class award for a 12-year old Highland at the 2007 International Wine and Spirit Competition

Gold Medal at the 2007 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Silver at the 2008 Competition

Price $39

                                                                          

In 1830 William Teacher began to sell blends (vattings) out of his wife’s grocery shop in Glasgow. 

By 1856 he opened his first “Dram Shop”. Dram shops were drinking establishments known for their reputation of selling high quality products. Pubs of the day were likely to sell adulterated products.

Teacher’s Highland Cream was launched in 1863.

Along the way, as a marketing advantage, Teacher’s patented the captive-cork “self opening bottle” in 1913.  Until this time whisky bottles were corked like wine bottles and would be removed by a corkscrew. 

Glendronach Distillery was purchased in 1957 to meet increased demand following the end of rationing after WWII.  In India, Teacher’s is the leading selling blend. Today Ardmore is the last Highland distillery to fully peat its malt. 

Ardmore has been distillery bottling its single malt only since 2007. The distillery is located in Aberdeenshire, which is about 30 miles from the northeast coast in the Speyside area. It is owned by Jim Beam Brands, which also own Laphroaig.

The distillery name is pronounced ardMORE and is Gaelic for Big Height.

Reviews:

No reviews of distillery bottlings are in the pipeline, but some comments from Serge of Malt Maniacs, describe the Distillery profile as: Peat, Pepper, Fresh, Apple, Smoke, Lemon, Melon, Vanilla, Clean, Austere, Oil.

Also, from Serge of the Malt Maniacs, is a review of a 12 yr old cask strength:

Ardmore 12 yo (56.2%, James McArthur, 75cl, late 1980’s) Colour: straw. Nose: another very smoky one, even sharper than its siblings. Good beer (the older Pilsner Urquell spring to mind), lemon juice, wet stones, soot, matches, raw wool and ink. Mouth: very big yet balanced, with something that reminds me of the recent young Ardbegs (Still Young). Grapefruits, grass juice, peat, wasabi (or horseradish). Quite extreme again. With a few drops of water: more peat, more wildness. Lemon zests and dry olive oil (not the fruity ones). Strong unsugared green tea. Finish: very long, peaty and peppery, very dry. Comments: same as before, for lovers of very dry whiskies only. Almost brutal and certainly spectacular in its own genre. SGP:166 – 88 points.

Jim Murray gave a 100th anniversary distillery bottling of a 12-yr old a 94.

In 2004, John Hansell of Whisky Magazine gave this independent bottling an 85.

Gordon & MacPhail Single Cask #12274 (distilled at Ardmore) 1990 Vintage, 56.4% ABV. Ardmore whiskies I've enjoyed in the past have been soothingly malty. Many have also been recognizably smoky, which is rare for a Speyside whisky. This one, aged in a first fill bourbon barrel, is true to its roots. It is a clean whisky, with a creamy, soothing maltiness throughout. The palate is entertained by notes of vanilla and honey, with anise, white pepper and a teasing smokiness. The thick maltiness and soft smokiness linger long on the finish. A very underrated whisky.

Awards:

Gold Medal - 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Awards

Quality Award – 2008 International Wine and Spirits Award

Gold – Beverage Testing Institute.

Price $49

                                                                         

At the ripe old age of 14 John Walker was set on his career path by the inheritance he received after his father’s death. His money was invested for him in a grocery, wine and spirits shop in Kilmarnock. His shop eventually produced a whisky known as Walker’s Kilmarnock Whisky. When he handed the business over to his son Alexander in 1850, sales of whisky were approximately 8% of the firm’s income.

George Alexander Walker

This was the same time that the invention of the column-still changed forever the whisky business. It allowed the continuous operation of whisky making, instead of in batches, as is done in pot stills for single malts. The grain whisky from column stills made blending the cheapest way to make whisky for the masses. Mixing single malts with the grains is the basis of blends. The Spirit act of 1860 allowed the mixing of grain and malt whisky and Alexander was one of the first take advantage of that law.

Alexander registered Walker’s Old Highland Whisky in 1867 and shortly thereafter their characteristic square bottle was introduced. In 1893 the Walkers went into the distillery business buying Cardow (Cardhu) Distillery.

In 1906 the product line was revised to more effectively compete with Dewar and Buchanan, who had overtaken the Walkers in sales. A few years later Red Label and Black Label were introduced. Black Label was a renaming

of the original Old Highland Whisky blend, which had been called Extra Special Old Highland in the interim.

In 1908 ‘the Striding Man’ logo was introduced. 

Diageo also own blends J & B, Vat 69, White Horse, Old Parr, Bell’s, Buchanan’s, Black & White, Dimple/Pinch, Haig, Benmore, Windsor Premier, The Real MacKenzie and single malts Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol, Caol Isla, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dailuaine, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glen Elgin, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie, Glen Ord, Glen Spey, Inchgower, Knockando, Lagavullin, Mannochmore, Mortlach, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, Strathmill, Talisker and Teaninich.

Today, Benrinnes, Mortlach, Royal Lochnagar, and Talisker are thought to be the main malts in Johnnie Walker Black. Talisker 18 was sampled in our 9/6/07 tasting.

According to David Wishart’s Classification of Single Malts, a typical Mortlach is in Cluster A (Full-Bodied, Medium-Sweet, Pronounced Sherry with Fruity, Spicy, Malty Notes and Nutty, Smoky Hints): Balmenach, Dailuaine, Dalmore, Glendronach, Macallan, Mortlach, Royal Lochnagar

Mortlach was licensed in 1923, the first of the famous seven distilleries of Dufftown in the Speyside region; Grant distillery, Balvenie, is another, as well as Convalmore, shuttered Parkmore, Glendullan, Dufftown, Pittyvaich and Kininvie, also a Grant distillery.

Before buying second hand equipment and setting out on his own to found Glenfiddich, William Grant spent 20 years working at Mortlach. 

To produce its unique flavor, Mortlach mixes the product of three pairs of stills in a process called partial triple distillation, which is also used at Benrinnes and Springbank. This produces robust and richly flavored single malt.  Worm tubs are still in use to condense the spirit at Mortlach, like Talisker and a few others, which also contributes to the richness of the spirit.

Reviews:

Serge of Malt Maniacs rates a Mortlach 10 yo 1995/2006 (46%, McGibbon's Provenance, cask ref #2745) 83 points. Colour: pale gold. Nose: very similar at first nosing, again on green apples, stones, metal, ham… Gets just both more lemony and more ‘porridgy’ after a moment (also yoghurt, fresh parsley…) with also a little more vanilla. The meaty notes (York ham) grow bolder by the minute. Gets very bubblegummy as well. Mouth: we do have notes of sherry now and much more oak as well. Nice spiciness (white pepper, nutmeg, cloves) as well as quite some toffee. Other than that, the general profile is pretty much similar to the 1996’s, with also a little more liquorice and less bubblegum or marshmallow this time. More mature, obviously. Finish: very long, toffeeish and coffeeish plus lots of ripe strawberries and crystallized oranges. Gets a bit tannic and drying but nothing excessive. More complex than the 1996, that complexity being probably brought by a more active cask.

Mortlach 16, 43%ABV, bottled by Flora and Fauna is the official distillery bottling. Jim Murray gives that an 87. He also rates a Whisky Galore Mortlach 1993 10-year old 46%ABV an 87. Of the nose, he states: The second fill bourbon cask has left a clear path for the sparkling apple-juicy, grassy barley. Of the palate: mouthwatering and refreshing barley-sugar. Of the balance he says: At last! For almost the first time in a decade a Mortlach not screwed by being filled into a cask of the very crappiest order. Wonderful to show what this distillery can really do without someone doing their best to ruin it. Look forward to a few more.

John Hansell of Malt Advocate gives an 11-year old a 93. Gordon & MacPhail (distilled at Mortlach), 11 year old, 1993 vintage, 60.7%, $80 Full-flavored, confident, and very dynamic. Bright fruit, teasing toffee, complex spices, cereal grain, and underlying light leather notes are all tightly integrated. Think an 11-year old whisky can't be mature or complex? Think again! A Speyside powerhouse! (Available in the Chicago area.)  (2nd Quarter 2006 Issue-Vol. 15#2)

Michael Jackson of Whisky Magazine rated a Cooper’s Choice Mortlach 10-yr old,

an 8 1/2

Nose: Fruity. Lemon curd. Sweet limes. Grassy notes. Fragrant smokiness emerges.

Palate: Smooth. Light toastiness. Cookie-like maltiness. Restrained sweetness.

Finish: Delicate balance of firm, rounded dryness. Clean, appetizing smokiness. Heathery.

Comment: A good bottling of this lovely malt. Mortlach has such complexity that I find new aromas and flavours every time I raise the glass.

Jim Murray of Whisky Magazine rated it an 8 1/4

Nose: Vaguely sulphury but enough sweet maltiness and delicate smoke to make for a winning aroma.

Palate: Highly spiced and warming, then a rich vein of sweet sherry and coffee makes for a superb middle.

Finish: Loads of grapey notes with firm oaky depth. Fantastic bittersweet balance.

Comment: A superb single cask boasting outstanding complexity. Marked down only by a slightly blemished nose.

Awards:

Mortlach 16yo 1991/2007 (57,5%, Adelphi, C#5947, 492 Bts.) won a Silver Award in the 2007 Malt Maniacs Awards

Price $90

“The proper drinking of Scotch whisky is more than indulgence: it is a toast to civilization, a tribute to the continuity of culture, a manifesto of man’s determination to use the resources of nature to refresh mind and body and enjoy to the full the senses with which he has been endowed.”-David Daiches, Scotch Whisky 1969

Aberfeldy 12, 40% ABV

Ardmore Traditional Cask, 46%ABV

Substitution for late bottle shipment:

Mortlach 13-year old, 58.9%ABV, cask 5972, aged in refill Sherry Hogshead,

distilled in 1993 bottled in 2006