DEWARS JAPANESE SMOOTH 8 YEARS

As exciting as today’s malt whisky landscape may be, so dull and uninspired is the world of blends. Most of them anyway.

At the risk of coming across as an utter snob, I’ll just state the obvious about 75% (if not more) of what today’s blends are. They’re just not aimed at people who visit corners of the internet, browsing through websites like Dramface. But consider this: if you asked a random person in the street to name a brand of whisky, what are the chances of them saying Ledaig or Springbank rather than something like J&B, Johnnie Walker, Teacher’s or Bell’s?

Supermarkets and bars the world over are packed with bottles of Jameson, Famous Grouse, Johnnie Walker Red and Jack Daniel’s, especially at this time of year. It’s what people know, it’s what people buy. Throw in a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black or Chivas Regal 12 if they feel like getting fancy. For the big companies, these whiskies pay the bills and because they bank on the recognisability and tradition of these brands, they’ve quite a lot of leeway when it comes to the quality of what goes in them. Heck, most of these whiskies end up in mixers, cocktails or hot beverages in any case, so anything too much of a distinctive character or flavour might be a liability rather than an asset.

This wasn’t always the case, though. Before the concept of single malt whisky really took off in the second half of the previous century, blends, many of them tended to be recognisable beyond the look of the label and the bottle. There was character, flavour and depth to be found, much in the way so many of our beloved single malts today have a distinct character and personality. If you attend whisky festivals, I suggest you try those yesteryear’s blends if they’re available. You’ll be pleasantly surprised what a 1960’s Bell’s or a 1970’s Ballantine’s has to offer. But as time went by, the paradigm, the concept (and the flavour) changed. In many ways, a lot of blends were downgraded to what they are today, making way for single malts as the new premium product. Obviously I’m generalising to a certain extent as there have always been premium blends out there, some even sitting alongside or even above some of the more premium single malts, but you get the idea.

So you’d be forgiven for not getting overly excited by the latest release of (insert popular blend brand name here). Probably there are exceptions. Take a company such as Compass Box, for example, who try and shake things up by coming up with new concepts including blended grains or quality blends. But again, ask any random person who or what Compass Box is, and I suggest you don’t hold your breath for the word ‘whisky’ to come up.