The Best Whiskies in the World

Words by Colin Hampden-White

As time moves forward, World Whisky Day has greater meaning. Long gone are the days of whisk(e)y being dominated by Scotch and Irish drams. We have whiskies being made in the most unlikely of countries, and being made very well. Along with Scotch and Irish drams, Japanese whisky has held a respected position in the whisky world for over a decade. It is surprising it has taken so long for the whisky world to wake up to Japanese whiskies with it having been produced in Japan for nearly a century with the Yamazaki distillery being built in 1924.

Beyond Japan, there is great whisky being made in Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. With Lark distillery being build in 1992, and Sullivans Cove in 1994, Australian whisky began to be recognised for its quality with Sullivans Cove being awarded the world’s best single malt in 2014. To whisky lovers, these distilleries are well known, but there are also new lesser-known distilleries with fantastic whisky. Cardrona distillery in New Zealand launched their first Single Malt last year with Just Hatched and followed that up with another brilliant release Growing Wings.

Distilling in central Europe is also going from strength to strength. Well known distilleries such as Slyrs in Germany, Lagatun in Switzerland are continuing to keep their quality and consistency. Newer distilleries in central Europe are creating some incredible whisky, Broger and Pfanner in Austria being two favourites of mine. Moving a little further east to the Caspian Sea, I have even found good single malt whisky being made in Azerbaijan on a visit a few years ago. Closer to home for me, the distilleries in England and Wales are going great guns. Aber Falls is about to release their first whiskies this year, Copper Rivet released their first whisky, Masthouse and the Cotwolds distilleries created their sherry cask matured expression which was my favourite English whisky of the last year.

A country well known for its whiskey is the USA, although usually made with different grains and corn, but they are now making some fantastic single malt whiskey. St George in California make a complex and fruity single malt, whilst Balcones in Texas make a big bold powerful single malt which has great complexity with their cold winters and incredibly hot summers making maturation a rapid affair with plenty of interaction between wood and spirit.

With all these world whiskies it would be easy to think that Scotch and Irish are getting left behind, but this is far from the truth. There is a plethora of new distilleries which are now producing whisky. The Glasgow distillery, Ardnamurchan, Daftmill and Arbiki being a few of my favourites. And there are new whiskies on the way with distilleries being built now like Gordon & MacPhail in the Cairngorms and more planned for the future. The green light has also been given for Sukhinder Singh’s distillery on Islay.

From the world of old, three notable closed distilleries are coming back to greet us. Port Ellen is being rebuilt, as is Rosebank, and Brora is opening imminently. Over the last few years, a few existing brands that have been overlooked have had a revamp and are creating some very exciting whisky. My favourite is Fettercairn from Whyte and Mackay, with the 16 year old (made with chocolate malt) being particularly good. Glenturret, having been bought by Lalique has had a serious makeover and the new expressions are seriously good, with a 15 year old at 55% ABV really standing out. Lastly, I enjoyed the new expressions from Bladnoch. A distillery which we have seen little from over the years now has a very smart new bottle and quite a few new expressions. I very much liked the Vinaya which is excellent value and for the 2020 release of Talia, a 26 year old which they matured in American oak red wine casks for all 26 years, and the results were excellent.

With so much choice in the world of whisk(e)y it is hard to know where to start. Might I suggest wherever you might be in the world to start close by, there is bound to be a distillery not too far away, creating whisky, and on this day of all days, let’s celebrate together and keep the food miles down, and support the expansion of whisky throughout the world with a glass of something local.

If you want a more in depth look into Scotch whisky make sure you check out The Three Drinkers do Scotch Whisky and if you’re thinking of investing in your favourite bottles then have a read of Colin’s Whisky Investment Index.

Hit for Six: The Best of Whyte and Mackay

Words by Colin Hampden-White

Whyte and Mackay are experts at blending, especially with Richard Paterson at the helm as master blender. Although they own four distilleries, until recent years it has only been the Dalmore that has had the big budgets spent on it. Over the last few years things have been changing. First of all, the whiskies from Jura distillery got a complete make-over and a completely new range introduced. Immediately one could see a huge improvement. This improvement must have been in development for many years, with Richard laying down the right stocks to implement the plans we have now seen. 

Next to receive a revamp was Fettercairn, a whisky brand that has had its fans and detractors in the past, and with expressions varying in quality from Fior to Fasque. The recently released new range is quite a different story. It has expressions at all ends of the age statement range, from 12 years old all the way up to 50 years old, and quite a few in between. Lastly there is Tamnavulin. Here they have released some incredible old whiskies. I recently tasted a 1973, 45 year old as part of my judging for the IWSC awards, and it did exceptionally well amongst great company.

Away from the single malts, the great blending company that is Whyte and Mackay continue to experiment with blended whisky and a new brand called Whisky Works. This is led by a brilliant blender whom Richard Patterson brought to Whyte and Mackay a few year ago: Gregg Glass has a great blending background having worked previously for blenders extraordinaire, Compass Box. (See us chat to him in Episode 5 of The Three Drinkers do Scotch Whisky).

The releases keep on coming and I have a few favourites: Fettercairn has released a sumptuous 16 year old, The Dalmore a new sherry cask select 12 year old, Jura a winter edition and a red wine cask finish cask edition, and one of my new all-time favourite young blends: an 11 year old blended Scotch from Gregg Glass under the Whisky Works brand. 

With all these new expressions coming out of the woodwork (literally), I took a little look at their back catalogue and one of my all-time favourites to see if it still stood up. Thankfully, all the efforts being placed in new expressions are certainly not taking their focus away from my favourite expression from The Dalmore: King Alexander III. This brought me to six whiskies from White and Mackay, blended and single malt, and both new and old. I highly recommend them.

 Jura Winter Edition

This is a warming and rich whisky initially matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished in ex-sherry casks. The idea for this whisky was to bring flavours more associated with mainland whiskies to the coastal flavours of an island whisky. The casks give warm spices and indulgent apple pie flavours. A real winter warmer. There are also hints of tropical fruit on the palate and vanilla with a touch of cinnamon. If you like mulled drinks and Christmas cake you should love this. Exclusive to Tesco for now in litre size bottles perfect for sharing. 

ABV: 40%
Size: 1000ml
Buy it now for £45

Whisky Works Quartermaster 11 year old 

From the experimental mind of Gregg Glass, this 11 year old blended whisky marries grain from the highlands of Scotland with single malts from the Speyside region. The single malts have been through four (hence the name of the whisky) different maturation and finishing methods giving plenty of complexity. Rum barrels were used to mature the grain whisky, and then they were finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. The malt whiskies were matured in a mixture of American white oak and sherry butts from Jerez. There was a limited release of only 2,134 bottles and, at the time of writing, still on sale at Mast of Malt.

ABV: 48.4%
Size: 700ml
Buy it now for £68.95

The Dalmore 12 year old Sherry Cask Select

The Dalmore is well known for having a close relationship with Spain as the whisky is often matured in ex-sherry casks. This expression celebrates this relationship and as Richard Paterson says “between the union of the Scottish highlands with the warmth of the Andalusian sun”. Firstly the whisky is matured for ten years in ex-bourbon casks and then two years in ex-sherry casks from bodegas with whom Richard has personal relationships in Jerez. These casks are made from both American and European oak and are then seasoned with a unique blend of aged Oloroso and sweet Pedro Ximénez casks. The result is fabulous; unctuous and complex with distinct flavours of sundried fruits and fresh Scottish orchard fruits. Plenty of fudge and caramel back up the fruit and with a spicy finish, this is a brilliantly concocted 12 year old dram. 

ABV: 43%
Size: 700ml
Buy it now for £45 (on special offer at time of writing)

Fettercairn 16 Year Old

This is a very interesting expression from Fettercairn released at the beginning of summer this year. Not many whiskies are distilled using chocolate malt (heavily kilned barley, more commonly seen in craft brewing)! The other I can bring to mind is the excellent Glenmorangie Signet. The Fettercarin is initially matured in first-fill American oak bourbon casks, before being put in sherry and Port casks, and is bottled at 16 years of age. There's plenty going on here, and it's all impressive stuff. One wonders why more brands aren’t using chocolate malt. This is a very different whisky from Signet although the chocolate malt lends some familiarity. If you like Signet, then you will love this.

ABV: 46.4%
Size: 700ml
Buy it now for £73.26

Jura Red Wine Cask Finish

This expression has been matured in ex-bourbon casks before being finished for 18 to 24 months in red wine barriques. It is incredibly well-balanced and rich with berry flavours and dried raisins. There are also creamy caramel and vanilla flavours and a touch of cinnamon spice. These sound like bold flavours, yet the whisky remains delicate. A great expression to try for those wanting to experiment a little with new whiskies. For the moment, this can be found in the UK in Sainsbury’s in a one litre bottle and is brilliant value.

ABV: 40%
Size: 1000ml
Buy it now for £40

The Dalmore King Alexander III

As mentioned before, this is one of my favourite whiskies. Richard Paterson uses six different types of sherry casks, blended together, to create this rich and moreish dram. With loads of dried fruit and spice, complex manuka honey and fudge, it is an indulgent treat. I’d suggest this drinks well not just after a rich meal but during the meal. It would match well with roasted meats just as well as with chocolate puddings or crème brulé. A whisky for indulgent foodies.

ABV: 40%
Size: 700ml
Buy it now for £174.90

There we have it, six of the best from Whyte and Mackay. Now that didn’t hurt did it!

If you’d like to try whiskies that have been finished in wine casks having been matured in ex-bourbon initially, then why not give these whiskies a go. 

Is single malt whisky better than blended whisky?

Is single malt whisky better than blended whisky? My answer? No. Job done. Feet up; mine’s a large Peat Faerie. Dammit, I’m 718 short of the word count. Ok, here goes then…

A typical whisky buying story

I overheard an interesting conversation in an off licence the other day. A young man came in and asked the shopkeeper to help him choose a whisky for his grandfather’s birthday.

“What does he like?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Erm, I’m not really sure,” the young man replied, “single malt Scotch?”

“And what’s your budget?”

“About £40.”

Now, this in and of itself isn’t a particularly interesting interaction; I assume it happens several times a day in most large whisky shops. What’s interesting is what came later. The young man left with a bottle of blended malt whisky, having been assured by the shopkeeper that this was the best that grandpa would be getting given the price ceiling his grandson had imposed.

This prompted a lot of thoughts. Firstly, is wee Jimmy going to get a smack for daring to bring anything other than batch distilled malted barley produced at a single distillery across the threshold of dear old grandpappy’s home? If he’s not, and in fact grandpa only cares about the taste of what’s in the glass, is this a distinction that matters to many people outside of the Scotch Whisky Association, or is it just a form of snobbery?

A quick history of whisky blending

I’m afraid my inclination is towards the latter. Let’s start by taking a look at the history of Scotch whisky. For years, Scotch whisky was blended whisky. In fact, when the industry began to boom, it was because it was blended – it finally could be blended. Frankly, back in the 19thand early 20thcentury, the single expressions of each distillery were pretty rough. Pretty rough, and incredibly variable. The early period of Scotch production can really be construed as a series of relatively wealthy, or aspirant, farmers giving distillation a crack. Monday’s distillate might turn out ok, but if you took your eye off the ball on Tuesday for a minute or two - maybe there was a drainage issue in the lower field - it’s possible that you just made a batch of spirit vinegar.  Weirdly, few consumers wanted to take a gamble on these terms. Or at least, at the more discerning end of the market, they weren’t going to come back if your last batch was a bit, erm, blinding.

This is why producers that cracked the process, and introduced some consistency, managed to create brands that were so highly regarded. They had to seek early forms of trade mark protection to distinguish themselves from poor imitations a few hundred miles away that still claimed to come from, say, Glenlivet.

Alternatively, enter the calm hand of the blender. Take John Walker, a grocer from Kilmarnock, or Messrs Chivas, shopkeepers on King Street, Aberdeen. It turns out that they had an alchemist’s touch – an ability to turn the rough into the drinkable – the sort of touch that means that many generations on, they are still household names.

How did single malt become better regarded?

So how did we get from this position, to a time where Pops now believes that the only whisky worth touching is single malt? Well, legend apparently has it that the boom in single malt whisky started when a work experience kid at Glenfiddich in the early 1960s was challenged to 'get rid of' an oversupply of 12-year-old whisky.  He came up with the bright idea of bottling it as a single malt and begin promoting it as 'better' or 'more genuine' than blended whisky. Fifty years on and Glenfiddich remains the biggest selling single malt in the world, and many consumers, at least in the west, still believe that single malt is somehow better, or ‘more real’ than blended whisky.  I hope he got a full-time job out of it.

Despite this, the reality for most consumers around the world is that scotch whisky is blended whisky. Just consider the biggest selling whisky brands: Johnnie Walker, Ballantine’s, Grant’s, Chivas Regal. In fact, the top twenty are all blends, so Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet (the biggest selling single malts) are not even close to a seat at the top table.

Are all of these consumers wrong? Well, of course they could be, but it seems unlikely, and if they're drinking what they like, then they're doing it right as far as I'm concerned. Think of it like comparing a fine red Burgundy to a fine red Bordeaux: the Burgundy will be made with a single grape variety (Pinot Noir) and Bordeaux will be a blend (Cabernet, Merlot and some others). Neither is necessarily better nowadays. It’s just a matter of style.

One thing's for sure; having tried my hand at blending whisky, it's seriously difficult, and those at the top of the game - David Stewart (William Grant & Sons), Stephanie Macleod (Dewar’s) and Richard Paterson (Whyte & Mckay) - are masters of their art; highly prized and with noses insured for over £2.5m.  I'm not going to tell them they're making an inferior product.

To see more of our whisky content including our monthly whisky investment advice follow this link!