One of the things that come up when people talk to me about whisky is blends.
Now I’ve gone on, and on, and potentially on, about it each time I’ve reviewed one. The quick version? All blends aren’t bad, it’s just that there’s more and more grain whisky being dumped in there and that takes longer and longer to get good, which costs money. And companies exist to make more and more money, whisky is in high demand, and voila.
But blended malts? No grain whisky in there! It’s all pot still, single malt.
Adelphi Glenborrodale 8 Batch #3 is named after a small town just outside of Ardnamurchin. The rumour is it includes Tamdhu, Highland Park, Glenrothes and peated Bunnahabhain.
But just because I enjoy the idea behind the recipe means it’ll be good. If that was true, Dunkin Donuts would be edible.
Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?
Price: N/A
Region: Blend(ed Malt)
Abv: 46%
Colour: 10YR 6/8
Nose: Oak, honey, heat, peach
Nice oak, some sweet/earth, and some heat. Nice bit of peach.
Really not a lot going on. I’m looking for a bit more.
Taste: Honey, caramel, dandelion, brine
Okay, some honey, some caramel, and some floral bits. I do enjoy the taste going on. Good balance on it. Good salt and sweet notes.
Finish: Cereal, alcohol, burnt pastry, smoke
The finish starts a bit harsh, but eventually, there’s some butter and smoke going on. Really hard to enjoy them with the burnt bits though.
Conclusion: Pretty rough and restrained. I wouldn’t mind if they dealt out some more flavour on this one. A lot of the good elements are lost in rough elements, but the taste was quite nice and had some fun aspects going on.
I’m hoping to try future batches and see if that’s changed. I should enjoy this more than I did. Part of me reacted quite negatively, and needed to come back to it again to balance myself out. Oh well, next time.
70/100
Scotch review #1169, Blend review #99, Whisky Network review #1799
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