Award Winning Whisky in 2010

To celebrate the 4th year of the BUMS gatherings, we’ll be sampling some of the outstanding whisky of 2010.

After tasting 1,063 other drams, the Ballantines came out on top because as Murray says, “Recent bottlings had taken it that extra step. Refined elegance had triumphed over naked beauty.”

Contenders were American whiskies, William Larue Weller, (third place) a cask-strength high wheat bourbon from Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection and Thomas H. Handy Sazerac (second place) a barrel-proof straight rye, also from Buffalo Trace.

Speaking at the publication of the Whisky Bible, Jim Murray said, “Blends are seen by many as the poor relations to single malts. Ballantine’s 17 proves, quite spectacularly, what many of us have known for a great many years: it isn’t. A blender has the chance to create something unique and quite beautiful by putting together many whisky styles. With Ballantine’s 17, the blender has done his job in glorious, quite majestic fashion.”

Last year’s World Whisky of the Year was Sazerac Rye 18. Number 2 went to Ardbeg Supernova and Number 3 was Indian whisky, Amrut Fusion.

To many the Ballantine’s was a controversial choice as World Whisky of the Year, not only because it is a blend but also because many wonder, “Can a bottle that is only 17 years old and merely 90 bucks or so really be on equal footing with outstanding single malts that are older, more complex and more expensive?” Obviously Jim Murray thinks so, but many bloggers and readers of blogs point to this choice as proof that Murray has very strong preferences that are not backed up by flavor profiles that justify his lauding. Without getting into the flavor of this dram, I think it is fine to have pet whiskies. Whisky guides are starting points for tasting and discussion and certainly not the final word on the subject.

Ballantine’s is bottled by Pernod-Ricard SA, which also owns and bottles these other blends: Chivas, Royal Salute, Clan Campbell, Something Special, Passport, 100 Pipers, Imperial and Long John.

And these single malts: Aberlour, The Glenlivet, Glendronach, Strathisla, Longmorn, Scapa, Glenburgie, Miltonduff and Tormore.

Ballantine is a blend which originated in the golden age of blending when Johnnie Walker, Dewar’s, Usher’s and Teacher’s all came into existence prompted by the invention of the column still and the desire by blender’s to make a more accessible whisky than strongly flavored single malts in the early to mid 1800’s. (Early “Blends” were really vattings until the advent of cheap and plentiful grain whisky from column stills.)

Today some whiskies in the blend are up to 35 years old and it is comprised of more than 40 malt whiskies from all the whisky producing regions of Scotland. In 180 years, Ballantine’s has had five Master Blenders.  Sandy Hyslop, Ballantine’s current Master Blender, is only the fifth person to know the secrets of the Ballantine’s blend.

Key single malts in Ballantine’s are Glenburgie and Miltonduff. At one time Ardmore was also a key malt.  An old reference I have says that other key single malts are: Balbair, Inverleven (closed in 1991), Old Pulteney, Laphroaig, Tormore, Imperial, Ardbeg and Balmenach. Only the Master Blender knows for sure. Even though blends try to keep their malts consistent over time, changes in ownership and availability are a constant and mean that the secret formula is frequently re-jiggered.

Ballantine Blend Accolades:

* 2nd Scotch whisky in the world in terms of volume (6.5 million cases) behind Johnnie Walker (16.3 million cases) and ahead of J&B (5.9 million cases), Grant’s (4.9 million cases) and Chivas Regal (4.5 million cases).

    * 10th largest international spirit in the world by volume.

    * With annual sales of 6.4 million 9L cases in 2007/2008.

    * N°.1 selling Super Premium whisky in Asia.

    * Awarded five Gold Medals at the acclaimed International Wine and

Spirit Competition in London.

•Named ‘Best Blended Scotch Whisky’ at the International Spirits Challenge for three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005.

Other bottlings in the Ballantine’s line:

(NAS) Finest, Gold Seal 12 year old, Pure Malt 12, 21 year old and 30 year old

Other Ballantine’s media:

http://www.whisky-pages.com/stories/ballantines.htm

http://www.suntory.co.jp/whisky/Ballantine/chp-06-e.html

http://www.bestofwhisky.com/?m=201003

Ballantine’s 17 $90-$150 plus shipping

Our next highly rated blend is Johnnie Walker Gold The Centenary Blend 18 years old, 40% ABV. It is rated 96 by Jim Murray, 87 by John Hansell and was the second highest rated Scotch in the Ultimate Beverage Challenge of 2010, rated 96, and called “Extraordinary, Ultimate Recommendation.”

Hansell says, “An example that older, more expensive isn’t always better, this 18 year old gem is as good as many blends twice its price. The foundation of Johnnie Walker Gold is delicate, clean, and honeyed, along with a fresh sea character (from Clynelish?) that provides a youthful zing. Notes of vanilla, shortbread, tropical fruit, freshly cut hay, marshmallow, and even a hit of peat, round out the palate. Its finish is subtly complex and nicely balanced. The blend has improved nicely over the past several years.”

Murray, discussing Diageo blends, states, “White Horse 12, Old Parr and Johnnie Walker Gold: three blends where the gauntlet has been laid down to all blenders and drinkers alike. And also where I say to Scotch lovers: well you might love malts, but just how many can match these for brain-exploding complexity?”

The Johnnie Walker Blends are owned by Diageo which also own these single malts:

Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glen Elgin, Glenkinchie, Knockando, Lagavulin, Oban,

Royal Lochnagar, Singleton of Dufftown, Singleton of Glendullan, The Singleton, Talisker

And these blends:

Bell’s, Buchanan’s, Pinch/Dimple, J&B, Old Parr, Vat 69, White Horse, Windsor

A Brief History of Johnnie 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 to 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. 

To supplement Cardow, Mortlach Distillery was acquired in 1923.  In 1925 Johnnie Walker & Sons became part of DCL, later known as Diageo. Every second, an astounding five bottles of Johnnie Walker are drunk.

Johnnie Walker Gold 18 is a blend of over 15 single malts. It was derived from Alexander Walker II's blending notes for a whisky to commemorate Johnnie Walker's centenary. They include Clynelish, Brora, which is 22 years old, Cardhu and Mortlach plus grain whisky.

A recent trend with JW Gold is to freeze the bottle and serve it ice cold!

Also be sure to see the 2010 Cannes Film Festival Award winning ad for JW, The Man Who Walked Around the World (below).

Also check out this wild JW Android commercial

Johnnie Walker Gold 18 Centenary $80-$100

This is rated 84, by Hansell, with these comments, “What a surprise! Really thick and malty for a blend (there’s a high malt content here for sure), and also nicely mature for 8 years old. Great balance too, with the island aggressiveness tamed by a rich, malty elegance. Delicious honey, toasted oak, firm peat, dark chocolate, and glazed citrus meld nicely with the malt, leading to a honeyed, lightly-peppered finish. Very enjoyable.”

Murray rates this dram a 94 and has this to say, “Just so beautiful. Honeycomb and light fudge form a rich partnership, the smoke is little more than ballast and a shy spice; the grains play a fabulous role in allowing the maltier notes to ping around and increase the salivating qualities.”

From their website: “Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd are the brand proprietors of Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Isle of Skye Blended Scotch Whisky, Lang’s Blended Scotch Whisky, Hedges & Butler, King Robert II, London Hill Gin, The Chieftain’s and Dun Bheagan Ranges, Smokehead Islay Single Malt, Six Isles Island Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, Wincarnis Tonic Wines and Macleod’s Single Malt Whiskies. We currently produce and sell over 15 million bottles of spirits per year.”

Unlike the previous two whiskies, this one is not owned by a drinks giant but is privately family-owned and has been around since 1933.  One of its recent creations, Smokehead, a mysteriously un-named Islay single malt has been a great success and has won many packaging awards.  It too is very reasonably priced for a decent Islay whisky at $45-55.

Isle of Skye $29-39