Blends are your friends
When most people hear the term “blended whisky”, they immediately think of Scotch. Irish whisky is also divided into blended and single categories, and there are even a small number of blenders in the U.S., but generally, blended whisky refers to Scotch whisky. The idea behind a blend is to combine whiskies of different flavor profiles to achieve a balanced, harmonious medley of flavors.
With single malt increasingly being marketed as a premium product, and news headlines about some examples selling for six figures, many people automatically dismiss blended whisky as somehow inferior to single malt. That is unfortunate. I’ve had some wonderful blends, and some mediocre single malts.
I even saw a comment once that single malt is better because they “get it right every time, every batch”, as if single malt meant single barrel. Obviously this person did not realize that unless it is labeled as “single barrel” or “single cask”, most single malts are a blend of different barrels, different batches, different ages, intended to produce a consistent product. It just all comes from one distillery.
The task of the master blender is not one to be disparaged or taken lightly. It takes years of experience and a trained nose and palate to make sure the next batch of Glenlivet tastes like the last batch of Glenlivet, when differences in grain, wood, and climate can vastly affect the flavor of each barrel. Or to make Chivas Regal taste like Chivas Regal, year after year, with varying supplies from all of your different distilleries.