Scotch Blends

[rollhead]

Curious about what kind of grain whisky goes into most Scotch Blends. Is it always un-aged? Do some blenders use different kinds of grain whiskys? Do some use aged?

I am asking because I haven't had good luck with the blended Scotch that I have tried.

Who are some of the more experimental blenders out there? Compass Box?

[Pete Smoke]

Curious about what kind of grain whisky goes into most Scotch Blends. Is it always un-aged?

It is always aged. For at least 3 yrs, the same for all Scotch whisky. If the blends states 8yo on the label then all whisky in the bottle will be 8yo or older. If there is no age statement ( NAS ) then all whisky in the bottle will be 3yo or older.

Do some blenders use different kinds of grain whiskys? Do some use aged?

Yes, and yes.

Compass Box produce a variety of blends and blended malts, iirc also a blended grain ( vatted grain ).

[Mr Tattie Heid]

There actually seems to be quite a bit of very old grain whisky about, like the 30yo Invergordons offered by the Bladnoch forum. I think this kind of stock is kept on hand for the occasions when someone wants to release a 25yo blend, say. I would guess these aren't the most active casks--it wouldn't be desirable, as showcasing the grain whisky isn't the point--but the few I've had have been very nice whiskies.

[Iain M]

Curious about what kind of grain whisky goes into most Scotch Blends. Is it always un-aged? Do some blenders use different kinds of grain whiskys? Do some use aged?

I am asking because I haven't had good luck with the blended Scotch that I have tried.

What blended whisky have you tried? It doesn't need to be experimental to be good, however compass box are obviously worth looking into!

It's very difficult to place origin of whisky for blends, as some blends have many contributors. It is often assumed that 'specific' distilleries provide for 'specific' blends but this can have no guarantee, such as North British in famous grouse. As they may use smaller amounts of other grain whiskies as well oh and then you have the malt distilleries ontop, where you can have many many different contributors.

Perhaps try a higher malt content blend, such as Johnnie Walker Black or Bailie Nichol Jarvie - (i'm not recommending them, but they might be worth looking into)

[rollhead]

Of course, I did know that Scotch had to be at least 3 years old. I wasn't putting the obvious together to come up with the fact that that included the grain whisky in the bottle.

For some reason, I was thinking that the blends were a mixture of aged malt whisky and something like moonshine.

As to what I've tried: Most recently, I've had the Black Bottle and Teacher's, the latter of which I understand is 45% malt. I do have a small, neglected bottle of Johnnie Walker Black in my cabinet, but the single malts on the shelves most always win my attention.

Thinking of trying some of the blended malts at some point.

I have had my eye on a bottle of Sheep Dip, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

[MacDeffe]

Here's a couple of blends I liked

Tweeddale, Black Bull and various stuff from Compass Box. CB's Double single isn't your typical blend but its very good, albeit a it unusual whisky

Steffen

[rollhead]

The Compass Box Double Single is the kind of blend that I was thinking of when I started this thread.

[MacDeffe]

It was one of my favourite bottlings of 2010

Steffen

[The Third Dram]

If you really want to venture into esoteric (i.e. bottles hard to come by these days) territory, you may wish to try and track down Chivas Century of Malts (a one-off melding of 100 malt Scotches created by Colin Scott) and/or J & B Ultima (an astounding and outstanding blend of 128 different malt and grain whiskies)... Either one a true treat for the palate.

The Poit Dhubh line of blended malts represents another interesting option. Islay Mist 17 Year Old is a personal favourite. Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd.'s Big Peat (a combination of quite youthful casks from Ardbeg, Bowmore and Caol Ila along with a smidgen of older Port Ellen) is yet another very tasty, smoke-laden pour.

[Johnny Murgatroyd]

It is always aged. For at least 3 yrs, the same for all Scotch whisky. If the blends states 8yo on the label then all whisky in the bottle will be 8yo or older. If there is no age statement ( NAS ) then all whisky in the bottle will be 3yo or older.
).

Hmmm. I often wondered about that. What sort of barrels do they use for anonymous grain whisky for blending? I'm hoping they don't use up first fills ha ha.

[karlejnar]

Hmmm. I often wondered about that. What sort of barrels do they use for anonymous grain whisky for blending? I'm hoping they don't use up first fills ha ha.

My guess is a mix of new and old refills. The new one's are hogsheads remade from barrels, but with new wood in the new ends. I know fx Diageo uses a lot of these hogsheads for malt, but only after they have been seasoned with grain and/or "anonymous" malt spirit. I believe this malt/grain whisky is then used in younger blends.

For older blends, they would have to use equally older grain whisky. That grain whisky has been matured in 3rd or higher number refill casks. A small percentage of very old grain whisky is bottled as single grain by independent bottlers, and can actually be very good. Fx Duncan Taylor has bottled many grains from most if not all grain distilleries. And they still have a lot in stock I believe. Raymond at Bladnoch has bottled a number of Invergordons and a few other. His son Martin has a few grain whiskies in stock as well (whiskybroker.co.uk)

[Pudge72]

Perhaps try a higher malt content blend, such as Johnnie Walker Black or Bailie Nichol Jarvie - (i'm not recommending them, but they might be worth looking into)

"Geeky question alert"

Is there a website that lists (generally, if not specifically) the % of malt content in each blended whisky that is available? I ask because I have had several blendeds recently (Looooove Te Bheag - have a bottle and will buy forevermore, really enjoy Grand Old Parr 12 and will buy if I can find it, feeling so, so about the standard Whyte & Mackay, and just had Cutty Sark last night as the first offering in a whisky tasting...likely best as a mixer for sweeter drinks.).

I ask, because I am curious as I had read somewhere (here maybe?) that Te Bheag was around 40-45% malt and was one of the highest concentrations of malt in a blended whisky that is currently available. My curiousity last night led me to TRY to ask the marketing guy doing the tasting what the % of malt vs. grain was in Cutty Sark. He just rambled on about the contents of the malts (Macallan, HP, Glenrothes) blended together that go into Cutty Sark, without answering what percentage of the overall blend that those malts actually made up (i.e. he didn't read his own marketing literature, which mentions (paraphrasing here) Cutty Sark being blended with the finest grain whiskies in the world, as he did not even acknowledge the presence of grain whisky). After about a minute...I let the matter drop. I would have felt better if he even had just stated that he couldn't tell us, or didn't know, the malt concentration in Cutty Sark.

Any info or feedback is always appreciated.

[two-bit cowboy]

The one I recall "bragging" about its content was Chivas 12, but that's been several years ago -- before the 18 and 25 were born. Anyway, supposedly Chivas at that time was made of 27 malt whiskies that comprised 85 percent of what's in the bottle. Can't find the reference.

Here's a decade-old discussion of a similar vein:

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/s ... php?t=1097

I'm certainly no blender, but I'd think there is no exact recipe for a given blend. The blender strives for consistency and the challenge of that would suggest a prescription quantity of each malt and grain whisky wouldn't allow the product to remain the same over an extended period. Too many variables from cask to cask and year to year. Just me yammering.

Edited to add this:

I've found two sites that claim Chivas is 40 percent malt, with 4 percent of that coming from Strathisla. But one of the sites also says Seagrams owns Chivas.

[Pudge72]

Thanks for the link, two-bit!! To my mind, I agree with your 'yammering' that it would be near impossible to keep the malt content to an exact % of the overall blend, but I thought that some sort of approximated range would be fairly consistent from bottling to bottling.

I'm curious if there is a specific list for malt content approximations that would be similar to the list of component malts within a blend that was linked to a while back in a different thread.

[Card Player]

Balantines 17 was a blend I really enjoyed.

[C57]

I always believed Te Bheag was 60% malt...

[Malt-Teaser]

I remember someone on here linked to a website some time ago which details what whiskies are in which blends, but as for percentage malt / grain I suspect that is one of the secrets for most blenders.

[athlete cured]

Hey Pudge,
In Murray's Classic Blended Scotch (published 1999, mind you) he says Old Parr 12 is 50/50 with the malts being Cragganmore, Aultmore, and Glendullan. No such ratio is given for Whyte and McKay, Cutty or Te Bheag standard blends.

[Pudge72]

Hey Pudge,
In Murray's Classic Blended Scotch (published 1999, mind you) he says Old Parr 12 is 50/50 with the malts being Cragganmore, Aultmore, and Glendullan. No such ratio is given for Whyte and McKay, Cutty or Te Bheag standard blends.

Thanks for the book reference...I'll try to find the book somewhere...I suspect that, as 'malt-teaser' mentions, this info would not be publicised too often.

C57, you're probably right about Te Bheag. I probably flipped the percentages in my mind. Either way, that bottle will be a staple in my cabinet.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

I think that far more important than the percentage of grain whisky in a blend is the percentage of three-year-old grain whisky from tired casks. High-quality grain whisky is high-quality whisky, period; and young, harsh whisky is so whether it's grain or malt. No one will ever give you those figures, but likely you can sort it out for yourself by taste.

[Frodo]

Agreed TH! As someone who has tasted 8yr Greenore and Hedonism, I can say grain whisky doesn't always have a bite to it. Lots of variables here...

[Willie JJ]

I also agree with Tattie Heid: percentages mean little, while quality means everything.

Many excellent blends have been mentioned upthread and despite the general storm of derision that accompanied JM's nomination of Ballantyne's 17 as the world's best whisky it is a very good blend. I have an open bottle of Double Single at the moment and I love it despite the eye-watering price. I also have open Cutty Sark 12, 18, 25 and Black Clipper and all are worth drinking. I don't believe that the Gaelic Whisky Company can do any wrong. The best part of this story is that most blends are relatively inexpensive unless they are carrying age statements over 12.

Hmmm. I often wondered about that. What sort of barrels do they use for anonymous grain whisky for blending? I'm hoping they don't use up first fills ha ha.

At the risk of being pedantic, grains are no more anonymous than malts in blends.

Oh and Highland Queen 16yo is very drinkable too.

[corbuso]

As good blends, in addition to the Ballantine's 17 and the black bottle, I would also add Teacher's with a high proportion of malt (at least 40%).
The composition and the proportion of malt/grain is generally a trade secret. Companies with a high percentage of malt (40%) tend to mention it as part of their advertisement.
Concerning the grain, it is generally a mixture of grain whiskies from different distilleries.
.......

[C57]

Never did get one of those CS25s Willie. Any plans on visiting your daughter in the near future?

[Mr Tattie Heid]

...despite the general storm of derision that accompanied JM's nomination of Ballantyne's 17 as the world's best whisky it is a very good blend.

I had a bottle of the 17, and while it is not really what I want in a whisky generally, I completely got what Murray was talking about, and was glad to have experienced it. Very, very interesting.