vatted whisky

Wild Scotsman 15-Year Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

Filed under: Spirits

Anyone who's anyone knows that scotch whisky comes from Scotland. But does that mean every company offering it needs to be Scottish as well? Not according to Jeffrey Topping, the mind behind Wild Scotsman Whisky. While all the whisky used in Wild Scotsman comes from Scotland, it's vatted and sold in Ohio.

The latest expression, Wild Scotsman 15-year Blended Malt Scotch Whisky is, let's be clear, a blend. But unlike labels like Johnnie Walker or Dewar's, its contents are exclusively single malts, blended together. In other words, Wild Scotsman (like other vatted or blended malts) doesn't include any inferior mass-produced grain alcohol. Those who've had with the likes of Compass Box, Monkey Shoulder or Big Peat will be familiar with the oft-misunderstood category.

For the Wild Scotsman 15, Topping and company selected ten casks, each from a different distillery across the six distilling regions of Scotland: Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Campeltown, Islay and the Islands. Each has been aged exclusively in bourbon barrels (no wine casks) for between 15 and 20 years. This final release will be available in limited quantities of 80 cases from 40 retailers in Ohio, each bottled suggested to retail at $59.99.

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Tags: blended malt, scotch, scotch whisky, vatted malt, vatted malt whisky, vatted whisky, whisky, wild scotsman

Controversial Cardhu Re-launches in U.S.

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

After several years of absence, Diageo's Cardhu 12-year old single-malt is returning to the U.S.

The Speyside single-malt, which is a key contributor to Johnnie Walker blended whisky, has been absent from the U.S. for many years, and was the subject of much controversy in 2003.

Faced with a shortage of Cardhu, created by increased popularity in several European countries, Diageo ceased selling a single-malt and launched a vatted malt expression it called "Cardhu Pure Malt." The bottle was very similar to the Cardhu Single Malt, and the liquor giant drew the wrath of whisky writers, enthusiasts and even the Scotch Whisky Association.

For a whisky to be called "single-malt," all the whisky in the bottle must have come from a single distillery. The Cardhu "vatted malt" was made up of whiskies from more than one distillery. "Pure Malt" was not a recognized designation at the time, and it was pretty clear that Diageo was being too cute by half in trying to meet demand for Cardhu among single-malt drinkers, as well as for Johnnie Walker. It was viewed as a deliberate attempt by Diageo to mislead the pubic about the Cardhu product.

Cardhu corrected its ways and re-launched Cardhu single-malt in 2005. The 12-year old it sells today, and is rolling out to U.S. shelves, will have a suggested retail price of $42.99.

Cardhu is a Speyside distillery near Archiestown, Morayshire, Scotland, founded by the whisky smuggler John Cumming in 1824.

Tags: Cardhu, Johnnie Walker, single-malt whisky, vatted whisky, whisky