Category: Blended Malt Whisky Page 4 of 5

Blended Malt Whisky

Whisky of the Week review and tasting notes for Blended Malt Whisky. A collection of all the interesting releases I have tried. Mainly Scotch whisky from all the whisky regions.

Big Peat 10 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/10/2019

In Blended Malt Whisky

I love what comes out of Douglas Laing. Not only is the packaging for their Remarkable Regional Malts original and fun, but the contents are delicious and exciting. So you can imagine how great my excitement was when I was asked to help Douglas Laing celebrate Big Peat’s 10^th anniversary, by raising a glass of the very special Big Peat 10 year old blended malt Scotch whisky.

Unfortunately, the Sough African Custom Service also had to have their say. My special package only arrived a week after Big Peats’ Anniversary. However, it did arrive, and I am so happy to celebrate 10 wonderful Islay years, even if it is a week or two later.

Douglas Laing is an independent bottler of whisky. They are responsible for some unique blended malts, including Timorous Beastie, Scallywag, and Rock Oyster.

Big Peat was released in 2009 as the first whisky in the Remarkable Regional Malts collection. It is a blended malt that celebrates everything Islay and is peated to about 40 ppm. Big Peat is an energetic Ileach fisherman with a soft side.

He wears a yellow jersey and has regular Christmas releases. There is a Big Peat Cape Town Edition that features a proper South African braai (South African BBQ) as well as a Big Peat 26 yo whisky, the oldest of the lot.

Big Peat 10 yo blended malt whisky contains Islay malt whiskies, including Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore and even a bit of Port Ellen. It is not chill-filtered and no added colour. This is a limited release edition.

Big Peat 10 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Lightest wheat

NOSE: Peat, smoke and classic Islay flavours of seaweed, salty air, and iodine. In the background, there are strong hints of soft sweet Dutch liquorice (zacht zoet drop) that take me back to my childhood. Bits of vanilla, green notes, and fruity sweetness.

PALATE: The Islay nose makes way for softer notes of fruity sweetness, hints of cinnamon with gentle peat and smoke. Very unexpectedly, the palate is delicate and soft and wonderfully balanced. Again there is the strong Dutch liquorice notes but with more licorice root (zoet hout). Bits of toasted nuts, sea salt, and tropical fruit. Freshness and green hints.

FINISH: Beautiful and warming, but not overwhelming. Soft peat and fruity sweetness.

RATING: EXCELLENT

One of my favourite treats as a child was when the family from the Netherlands came to visit and brought us some pieces of liquorice root. I have not tasted it for years, but the liquorice notes in the Big Peat 10 year old has brought back such good memories of us chewing on pieces of sweet wood.

This is an excellent whisky for someone new to Islay whiskies. It has the classic Islay notes, but it is at a softer intensity than an Ardbeg or a Lagavulin.

I don’t even know what water does to the dram. I finished it all without even thinking of adding water. You don’t need any water as it is smooth and easy drinking. John described it as a summer Islay, the perfect peaty whisky to drink in summer. Happy 10th anniversary to the big man in the yellow jersey. I am looking forward to 10 more years of smashing Islay drams.

Also Read: Big Peat Christmas Edition whisky

Sample disclosure: I received this sample as part of the 10 year celebration of Big Peat’s release, directly from Douglas Laing. Though received as part of a promotional event, the review and tasting notes are my honest, fair and independent thoughts about the whisky.

Rock Oyster Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 05/27/2019

In Blended Malt Whisky

A whisky I have written about before in a twitter tasting, but I think it deserves its own blog post. The Douglas Laing’s Rock Oyster blended malt Scotch whisky is a firm favourite. Rock Oyster was released in 2015 as a blend of single malts from Scottish islands, including Orkney, Arran, Jura and Islay.

And like all the Douglas Laing releases, it has a lovely nautical themed label. The idea behind Rock Oyster was to create a maritime personality that reminds you of sea-salt, sweet peat, smoke, honey and pepper.

This is just the malt to make you miss the Scottish Islands. Rocky Oyster blended malt Scotch whisky is part of the Remarkable Malts range, together with the Scallywag and the Timorous Beastie and Big Peat.

Also Read: Big Peat 26 yo whisky

During 2018, Douglas Laing changed the name from Rock Oyster to Rock Island, which might be a bit more appropriate. However, this is still capturing my tasting notes for the Rock Oyster whisky release. I would love to try the Rock Oyster and Rock Island next to each other, but that will be a blog for another day.

Rock Oyster is a blended malt and is not chill-filtered, naturally coloured with no age statement, and bottled at 46.8%.

Rock Oyster Blended Malt Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 46.8%

COLOUR: Golden

NOSE: Peat, medicinal notes and iodine. Hints of smoke with newly cut green grass, hints of fruity sweetness, stormy ocean air.

PALATE: Peat, smoke with bits of summer fruit like peaches and apricots drizzled with caramel sauce. Hints of pepper, vanilla and heather. Delicious ocean character with bits of salt, seaweed and green notes. Big and bold and just delicious. Despite the bold palate, it is easy drinking, and I want a second glass.

FINISH: Wonderfully balanced between the peat and the fresh fruit with pepper. Big and bold, and it goes on forever. Warming you from the inside while you are standing on the windswept cliff.

RATING: EXCELLENT

I love this. It is like comfort food. Not fancy and spectacular, warming, comforting and it hits just the right notes. And at the price point, it is perfect. It has beautiful Islay notes, but they are perfectly balanced with the softer Highland heather and green notes and sweetness from Arran.

I can’t wait to see what the Remarkable Malts Rock Island will be priced at and how it compares to this release. I will do a side by side comparison between the two when the time comes.

Also Read: Bennachie Whisky

Wemyss Malts The Hive Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 04/23/2018

In Blended Malt Whisky

I have had a long love affair with Wemyss Malt releases. Since the first time I tasted Wemyss Malts in Dullstroom, I have been in love. The collection of Wemyss whisky in Wild About Whisky is extensive. They have an incredible range of Wemyss single cask releases available, and when we visited, I tasted my way through quite a few of them.

Unfortunately, up to about a year ago, there were no Wemyss Malts releases available in South Africa. The few limited releases I managed to get, we brought back from our travels to the UK. This changed with Wemyss bringing a few of their standard releases into SA. I got my hands on the Wemyss Malts The Hive blended malt whisky release and could not wait to write about it.

Wemyss is known for their Single Cask releases that are named for their taste notes. I have a bottle of Wemyss Brandy Casket, Wemyss Gooseberry Marmalade and Wemyss Sweet Mint Infusion whisky and as you nose and taste them, you can immediately pick up the notes.

However, the core of the Wemyss Malts blended malts is the three releases aptly named The Hive, The Spice King and Peat Chimney. All bottled at 46% ABV.

Launched in 2011, Wemyss Malts The Hive has no-age-statement (NAS). In 2016 Wemyss released a Batch Strength limited editions, of which 6,000 bottles were produced at 54.5% ABV. Sadly this is not (yet) available in South Africa.

Wemyss Malt The Hive focuses on sweet honey qualities with a few Speysider style notes at the core of this blend. It is a blend of at least ten single malts. The Wemyss blended malts are non-chill filtered.

Also Read: Muirhead Silver Seal Maturity whisky

Wemyss Malts The Hive Whisky Review

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Rich gold

NOSE: Honey sweetness, malt and oak with bits of vanilla, ginger and faint hints of citrus.

PALATE: Wemyss Malts The Hive has heaps of honey, freshly baked apple pie, vanilla sugar, oak with hints of pepper and ginger. A bit of an alcohol burn and adding water makes it easier to drink and releases more of the honeycomb sweetness. Rich and delicious.

FINISH: Medium length that ends in honey notes.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a great blended malt, not the most complex, but easy drinking and fun. Perfect for summer! It just needs to breathe a bit. Let it stand for a few minutes and add enough water. Other Wemyss releases that I have tasted and written about include the Wemyss Malts Dark Chocolate Orange as well as the Wemyss Velvet Fig blended Whisky.

Also Read: Tomatin 12 yo Whisky

Clan Denny Islay Edition Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 11/20/2017

In Blended Malt Whisky

In my ongoing search for affordable and delicious bends, I have tasted some rather “interesting” drams, I have tried some excellent blends. And I had tried a few where I look at the bottle and wonder if the person who bottled this, tasted it before it was bottled. This year have been slower than usual in my search for affordable blends.

I have found some stunning blends in the mid-range pricing level. Blends like the Rock Oyster whisky and the Timorous Beastie that retail for around R 750 – R1000 range. But very few in the affordable range around R500.

Looking at Douglas Laing who is responsible for Rock Oyster, Big Peat and Timorous Beastie, I noticed their Clan Denny range. I have also seen it regularly popping up on the Whisky Brother shop top seller report as well as in Norman Goodfellows. There is a Clan Denny Speyside and an Islay Edition. They retail for around R400, and I got myself a bottle of the Clan Denny Islay blended malt Scotch whisky.

Douglas Laing is an independent bottler and blender. Established in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing, they specialize in creating the finest blended Scotches and vatted malts as well as releasing special bottling of Single Cask Single malts and Single Grain Scotch Whiskies.

Clan Denny Islay is a vatted malt blend of 7 Islay malts. According to the bottlers, the distilleries include Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila plus a further two that can’t be named. But it should not be too difficult to figure out who the two might be. Clan Denny whisky is matured in ex-bourbon casks and non-chill-filtered.

Clan Denny Islay Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Pale gold with hints of green

NOSE: Peat, iodine, ash, salt and medicinal notes. Hints of vanilla and green grass drifting past with oaky spiciness. Faint hints of apricot sweetness.

PALATE: Initially, it’s quite spicy with sharp traces of iodine, salt and peat. It then changes beautifully with some hints of smoke, black pepper, vanilla and honey sweetness. Faint hints of dark chocolate and oak.

The flavour development is quite remarkable. It’s a got character and grace in spades. The addition of water adds smoothness and creates a creamy consistency. It’s a great blend!

FINISH: The finish builds beautifully and richly. It’s a fantastic finish and leaves a long lingering warmth in your stomach. Some citrus peel and marzipan and lemon pepper at the end but it lingers and lingers.

RATING: EXCELLENT

A remarkable achievement for the price point. Rich and creamy and simply delicious. It has a great balance between peat and sweet. At this price point; it is just perfect. This bottle of whisky, you can easily give as a gift. There is a Clan Denny Speyside release too. I will add it to my collection soon.

Also Read: Belgian Owl Passion Whisky

Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/20/2015

In Blended Malt Whisky

Two years ago, while travelling through Dullstroom, we tried some whisky from an, up to that point, unknown but intriguing-sounding bottler. Right there and then, I fell in love with Wemyss Malts.

It is unfortunately not (yet) available in South Africa. While travelling overseas, I managed to get hold of my first bottle, the Wemyss Dark Chocolate Orange single cask whisky.Now, when possible, I add more Wemyss Malts releases to my collection. I have tried the Sweet Mint Infusion and the Gooseberry Marmalade

While following the World Whisky Awards on Twitter earlier this year, I saw that the Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig blended malt Scotch whisky won in the category ‘Best Blended Malt Scotch Whisky 2015’. I had to get my hands on a bottle.

It was, however, a limited release of just 6 000 bottles, so it was quite a struggle to obtain a bottle. But, with the kind help of the ladies at Wemyss Malts, I managed to track down one of the last bottles of Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig whisky and it arrived safe and sound in South Africa during May.

Velvet Fig is made from a selection of single malts, all of which have aged entirely in Ex-Oloroso Sherry casks. This no age statement whisky is not chill-filtered and bottled at 46%. Like the rest of the Wemyss Malts Blended Malts, Velvet Fig is named after the whisky’s natural flavours and aromas. It was with great excitement that I opened this bottle.

Related Article: Penderyn Whisky

Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig Blended Malt Whisky Review

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: It is quite a dark coloured whisky. The rich mahogany coloured Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig makes long tears in the glass.

NOSE: Notes of sherry, fruit, Christmas pudding stuffed with lots of sultanas and dates, green apples and yes, Fig. Lots of sweet fig preserve. There are notes of fresh-cut flowers and hints of cinnamon and nutmeg in the background.

PALATE: Spicier than I expected. Without water, the spicy notes dominate with cinnamon and juicy sweet figs. It is not as sweet as the nose leads me to believe. After adding a bit of water, the spices smoothed out, and more of the fig and fruity notes take over. There still is not as much sweetness as I anticipated.

FINISH: This rich and full-bodied Velvet Fig has a long finish and end in notes of fruit and spice.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a surprising complex whisky. I am so glad we managed to get a bottle for our collection. Now to hunt down our next bottle from this innovative company.

I have tried various other Wemyss releases, including the Wemyss Brandy Casket, as well as the Wemyss Malts Dark Chocolate Orange. Looking around, I see that a few of the blended malts are now available in SA.

Also Read: Johnnie Walker XR 21 yo whisky