Tag: blended

Blended Whisky – Part Two

A look at blending your own whisky and the new Chivas Regal blending kit

Blending your own

If you’ve read part one of this post, or even if you haven’t, you might be thinking it would be fun to try blending your own whisky.

Well, if you think you have what it takes to create a unique and delicious blend, there are a few options available to you. There are a very small number of distilleries around the world that offer a whisky blending experience, where you can sample several different whiskies, and then try blending them with the help of an expert.

If a trip to one of these is not an option, you could buy several different bottles with different flavor profiles, or grab what you have on hand, and start blending.

Whisky Blending Kit from Chivas Regal – Comes in a very nice presentation box for gifting

Here’s another fun option, which I just tried. In November of 2018, Chivas Regal, one of the world’s leading whisky blenders, released a whisky blending kit. For about $35 U.S., you get 50 ml bottles (“airline” bottles) of 5 different whiskies identified only as smoky, fruity, floral, citrus, and creamy, as well as a 50 ml bottle of Chivas Regal 12 (as an example of a good, well balanced blend), a pipette to measure and dispense the whisky, and a beaker to do your blending. It also includes an empty 50 ml bottle labeled “My Blend”. All of this comes in a nice box, which would be perfect for gifting.

The idea here is to work in small batches, adding anywhere from .5 to 3 or 4 ml of each, to build a small tasting sample. You then taste, and adjust your recipe if you want more or less of a certain flavor. Once you have a blend you’re happy with, you can scale up your recipe and make enough to fill the 50 ml bottle.

It took a few attempts, but I managed to come up with something i was proud to call “My Blend”

If you’re going to give this a try, either with this kit or with your own whiskies, I have a few suggestions:
⦁ Before mixing anything, taste 2-3 ml of each whisky. Like making a cocktail, or cooking, it’s important to appreciate the taste of each component on its own, so you know what it’s contributing to the finished product.
⦁ A little smoke goes a long way. Even if you like a smoky whisky, you don’t want to drown out all of the other flavors. The purpose here is to learn about balance. I would recommend no more than about 5% of the “smoky” if you want to be able to appreciate the other flavors.
⦁ The main idea of the “creamy” is to add body and mouthfeel, not flavor. Use it accordingly.
⦁ Measure carefully, and keep track of what you do in each batch, so you can make informed adjustments, and reproduce the results once you find something you’re proud of.

If you look at this as $35 for 300 ml of whisky, it may not seem like a great bargain. I choose to look at it as $35 for a unique learning experience, and for that, it’s a great value.

I do wish they had an option to submit your recipe online and order a full sized bottle of your custom blend. There are sources that offer that, but you’re working from descriptions only, and don’t get to experiment first, so a mistake can leave you with a full bottle of something you don’t like.

Working with bottles of single malt that are available retail gives you better options for buying more, and making larger batches, but then it’s up to you to determine what to use for various flavor characteristics. With the kit, Chivas Regal has done that work for you.

Overall, if you have an interest in making your own custom blends, I think the new Chivas Regal kit is an excellent place to start.


Blended Whisky – Part One

Blends are your friends – Why you shouldn’t automatically dismiss blended whisky as inferior.

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.

What is Scotch?

What are the requirements for a whisky to be called Scotch? What are the different types and regions?

Scotch whisky, like Bourbon, is a specific type of whisky. Because it is commonly just called “Scotch”, it is sometimes thought of as a separate category, also like Bourbon. More than once, I’ve heard or read “I don’t drink whisky, I drink Scotch. Sorry to tell you, but if you’re drinking Scotch, you ARE drinking whisky.

However, although all Scotch is whisky, not all whisky is Scotch. In order to be called Scotch whisky, the following requirements must be met:
⦁ Must be distilled in Scotland from water, malted barley, and other whole cereal grains (the ingredients themselves do not need to come from Scotland).
⦁ Distilled to no higher than 94.8% ABV (alcohol by volume). ⦁ Aged in Scotland for a minimum of 3 years.
⦁ Can contain caramel coloring E150, but no other added colors or flavors. ⦁ Must be bottled at a minimum of 40% ABV.
⦁ If labeled with an age statement, it must indicate the youngest whisky included.
⦁ Labeling without an age statement is permitted. These are referred to as NAS (non age statement) whiskies.

It is a popular myth that all Scotch is smoky. I have even read that Scotch “must” be smoky, as if it were a requirement. This notion comes from the fact that traditionally, the heat to dry barley during the malting process was provided by burning peat, which is an abundant fuel source in Scotland. The smoke from this burning peat flavored the grain, and that flavor was still present in the finished product. Many distilleries still use peat smoke to impart that distinctive flavor, but many others use alternative heat sources to dry the grain and produce a whisky with no smoky taste.

In addition to these requirements, there are various sub-categories of Scotch. The most commonly known are single malt and blended, but there are actually 5 categories.
⦁ Single Malt Scotch must only contain malted barley (no other grains) and be produced at a single distillery. It can be, and usually is, a “blend” of multiple casks of various ages. Do not confuse Single Malt with Single Barrel, which is, as the name implies, from a single barrel.
⦁ Single Grain Scotch must come from a single distillery, but can contain other grains besides malted barley.
⦁ Blended Malt Scotch is a blend of different single malts from different distilleries.
⦁ Blended Grain Scotch is a blend of different single grains from different distilleries.
⦁ Blended Scotch is a blend of single malts and single grains from different distilleries.

As if that isn’t enough to remember, there are five official whisky producing regions within Scotland. These regions are mostly associated with single malt whiskies. Most blends contain whiskies from multiple regions, although occasionally you will see a blend from a single region.

Speyside – The largest whisky region in terms of number of distilleries and total production, and home to many of the best known single malt distilleries. Speyside whiskies are known for being full bodied and full flavored. Many are aged or “finished” in sherry casks, leading to a distinctive flavor profile. More on cask “finishes” in a later post. Speyside is located entirely within the highlands, and whisky produced in Speyside can legally be labelled as Highland whisky.

For a long time, I was under the misconception (as I think many are) that the Speyside region was defined as distilleries drawing their water from the River Spey and its tributaries. I learned recently that it is actually a geographical tax designation, defined by specific boundary lines and counties.

Highlands – The largest region geographically. Highland whiskies can vary widely in flavor profile, largely due to the size and diverse terrain of the region. Several smaller islands off the coast of Scotland’s mainland are home to distilleries. While some think these “island” distilleries should be a separate region, due to their unique characteristics, they are officially part of the Highlands – with one notable exception.

Islay – This single island is home to 8 active distilleries, and is considered its own region. Most Islay distilleries have continued the traditional use of peat. The region is known for its smoky whiskies, although there are some unpeated Islay whiskies as well. The S in Islay is silent, just like the S in island.

Lowlands – Most distilleries in the lowlands produce grain whisky, and much of that ends up in blends. The small number of lowland single malts are known for being light bodied and “approachable”.

Campbeltown – Ask many “experts” how many whisky regions Scotland has, and they will proudly say “four”, and proceed to list those above. There is a fifth official region, however. Campbeltown is located on the Kintyre peninsula in the southwest of Scotland, near Ireland. Legend holds that St. Patrick introduced distillation to Scotland by way of the Kintyre peninsula in the 5th century. At one time, Campbeltown was home to over 30 distilleries, and was known as the whisky capital of the world.

The few remaining single malts produced in Campbeltown are known for being full bodied and often “oily”. Like many coastal distilleries, they can have some salinity to them as well, as the salty air penetrates the casks over the many years that they spend aging in warehouses near the sea.

I know, that’s a lot of information. If you’ve made it this far, thank you! The truth is, this only scratches the surface, but it does cover the basics, and should help you get started. If you’d like to learn more, please be sure to subscribe!