Dewar’s 15 year old Whisky

Towards the end of last year, I wrote about a great whisky I tasted  at The Only Whisky Show. The Dewar’s 12 year old blended whisky made quite an impression on me. I went straight out to buy a bottle. Delicious and affordable, this excellent blend quickly made it onto my Top 5 Blends for 2017 list.

Fast forward a couple of months. A week or two before the Whisky and Spirit Show in Sandton in November, a very curious package arrived. A small box with an egg inside. Inside the egg was a message I could only get to if I break the eggshell.

The message was an invitation to join Dewar’s at their Whisky Live stand to taste more Dewar’s whisky paired with some Scotch Eggs.

The first dram  I tasted that evening at the Scotch Egg evening at Whisky Live  was the Dewar’s 15 year old blended Scotch whisky. I tried it with Scotch Eggs (it nice), nuts (tasty) and dark chocolate (delicious). I walked straight to the Norman Goodfellows shop at Whisky Live and bought a bottle. It was that good.

Dewar’s 15 year old whisky was created by Dewar’s master blender Stephanie Macleod and introduced in 2010. Initially targeted at the Asian market and travel retail, the Dewar’s 15 year old is now more widely available.

The Dewar’s 15 year old is known as “The Monarch”. The inspiration for the blend came from a famous Sir Edwin Landseer oil painting known as “The Monarch of the Glen”.

This famous painting was purchased by John Dewar & Sons in 1919 and is currently owned by the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. It is a beautiful Royal Stag.

The Monarch is one of only a few blended whiskies to carry a 15 year age statement. It is created from selected single malts and single grains, across both sherry and bourbon barrel ageing. The blend is then married in select oak casks for an additional period. The Dewar’s brand is part of the Bacardi stable.

Also Read: Dimple Pinch 15 yo Whisky

Dewar’s 15 year old Whisky Review

The Dewar’s 15 year old Scotch whisky has a raised relief design on the glass. The simplistic black and gold labelling add to the premium feel of this dram.

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Bright gold

NOSE: Sherry, fresh fruit salad with apples, melons and pears, honey, fresh flowers, hints of spices and fresh meadow flowers. Rich and quite complex with hints of  vanilla and butterscotch grape jam mixed with oak.

PALATE: Rich, sweet nicely balanced with oak spices, orange peel, wood, and vanilla. Enough pepper notes to give a bit of a bite, but well balanced enough not to overwhelm the sweeter notes. Fresh fruit, hot pancake with cinnamon sugar.

You don’t even have to add water. Hints of lemon sorbet and freshly cut wood. Water softens the dram slightly and makes it very easy drinking.

FINISH: A bit short and dry, but pleasant. The Dewar’s 15 year old ends in notes of pepper and fruity sweetness.

RATING: EXCELLENT

This 15 year old reminds me a bit of the Glenfiddich 15 year old whisky . It has that same sweet richness that the Glenfiddich has. However, looking at the price point of this blend, it is real value for money! For a 15 year old whisky! It is so easy drinking and enjoyable. It also has a rich complexity underlying the well-balanced fruit and spicy notes.

I paired this blended whisky with some Swiss Appenzeller cheese. You can see what I thought about the pairing by following the link. The Dewar’s 15 year old whisky retails for only R 450 in South Africa. It will definitely make it onto my Top 5 blend list for 2018.

Also Read: Singleton 15 yo Whisky