Spot on! New Blue Spot Irish Whiskey

Words by Colin Hampden-White

Those that love Irish whisky will have a particular fondness for the Spot family of whiskies. In the early 1900’s wine and spirits merchants, Mitchell & Son started to mature spirit from the Jameson distillery on Bow Street with the intention of bottling whiskey. The casks used for maturing the whiskey had a system of coloured spots on them to indicate how long the whiskey had been maturing in each cask. A blue spot indicated 7 years, a green spot 10, a yellow spot 12 and a red spot 15 years and it was with this system of spots they named their whiskies in correspondence with the age of the whisky in each bottle.

The Spot family of whiskies is now managed by Pernod Ricard in conjunction with the Mitchell family. The Green Spot has been on the market for some time, with the Yellow Spot returning in 2012, the Red Spot making a new appearance in 2018 has been off the market since the 1960s, and now having not been seen since 1964, the Blue Spot has finally completed the family.

The men and women recreating Blue Spot have never tasted an old bottle such is its rarity. They have notes and records and with them, they have created a re-imagined Blue Spot. It has been designed with how it would have tasted in the past very much in mind. Using a base of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks they also used whiskey aged in ex-Madeira casks. This was inspired by the historical stock held by Mitchell & Son and the flavours were very typical of the Spot whiskey style.

These Madeira casks have been maturing and conditioning over 20 years. Coopered in northern Portugal they were then shipped to Madeira for seasoning and once seasoned, they were transported to Midleton, filled with pot still spirit, and left to mature. These casks gave lovely flavours of stewed orchard fruits, nuts and sweet spices.

“It is with absolute pleasure that we reintroduce Blue Spot and bring a piece of Dublin’s rich whiskey history back to life,” said Kevin O’Gorman, Master Distiller at Irish Distillers. “Over the years I have had the honour of collaborating with the Mitchell family, who for generations have celebrated the influence of fine wines on Irish whiskey, as we have reintroduced expressions to the beloved Spot range.”

“I am incredibly proud to celebrate with Jonathan and Robert Mitchell on this historic day as Blue Spot takes its place alongside Green, Yellow and Red Spot, reuniting the whole family once again.”

“It’s been a privilege to shed light on the history of whiskey bonding in Ireland and the role our family had to play in it as we relaunch Blue Spot,” added Jonathan Mitchell, Managing Director at Mitchell & Son. “The inclusion of whiskey aged in Madeira casks adds flavours that would have been originally introduced into Irish whiskey by the Mitchell family. As the full Spot range comes back to life, we find ourselves bursting with pride for the role our family played in the creation of this treasured range of whiskeys.”

Blue Spot will be a batched product, non-chill filtered and cask strength which will vary annually with each release.

You can get your hands on a bottle here for those based in the UK and for those in the USA Blue Spot will be available from February 2021.

Did you enjoy this? Why not have a look at Whisky Just Hatched from the Other Side of the World!

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. 

Blended Scotch v Single Malt Scotch Whisky: What Should I Buy?

Words by Colin Hampden-White

Whisky is made of three ingredients; grain, water and yeast. Malt whisky uses malted barley which is barley that has been brought to the point of germination by soaking, then drying, before it is then used to make the malt whisky. Whisky can be made by using other grains like wheat or maize too and this creates grain whisky. Blended whisky is a mixture of grain whisky and malt whisky. In the case of blended Scotch whisky, the whisky must contain 15% of malt whisky, all the whisky must be aged in oak barrels (casks) for three years, and it must also be over 40% abv.

The difference is relatively simple, but a preconception that blended whisky is not as good as malt whisky needs to be unpicked. 90% of the whisky produced and sold globally is blended whisky, and 90% of that blended whisky is inexpensive supermarket whisky. This leads to the idea that blended whisky is not as good as malt whisky which, for the majority of whiskies, is true; it will be aged for less time and the barrels used will generally be not as high quality as those used for malt whisky. However, there are blended whiskies that are just as good as malt whiskies and sometimes quite a bit better.

The concept of the blend is to be harmonious. They can still have their own character, but, using the analogy of an orchestra, single malt is like a solo instrument, i.e. a violin, whilst a blend is like the whole orchestra playing together. One of my favourite whiskies is a blend:  Johnnie Walker Black Label, which requires around forty different whiskies. 

There are whiskies for everyone at all levels. Here are three of my favourite blends and three of my favourite malts at three different price points. What they all have in common is that they are excellent whiskies, and at the different price points the blends can equal the quality of the malts, and vice versa.

Blended Scotch Whisky

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Johnnie Walker Black Label is my go-to whisky. It is brilliantly complex with an underlying fruity base, lots of caramel and vanilla flavours, but also a hint of smoke running through the whisky too. In 2020, Johnnie Walker celebrated its 200th birthday! It is incredible to think it has been two centuries since John Walker founded this whisky brand, which has gone on to become world-famous. As part of the festivity surrounding this milestone, a limited edition bottling of Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old was released, designed in collaboration with fashion house Alpha Industries. It contains the same whisky as the regular 12 and is the same price, but I think the bottle gives it a little extra panache. 

ABV: 40%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £29.95// US $29.99

Chivas Regal 18 year old

A richly indulgent blended Scotch whisky from long-time favourite, Chivas. The Chivas Regal 18 Year Old was personally created by Master Blender Colin Scott, including over 20 single malts from around Scotland, Colin is about to retire this year, but his legacy will live on in this excellent blended whisky, you can even see his name on the presentation box. Definitely no stranger to awards, this one. It even took home the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014 Trophy for Blended Scotch Whisky! A great whisky to sip and savour, but also rather good for cocktails if you fancy giving them an upgrade.

ABV: 40%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £59.83 // US $99.99

The Tweeddale 28 Year Old – The Evolution

This is the oldest of the Tweeddale range to date. This delicious blended Scotch whisky boasts an impressive 28 year old age statement and a flavour profile packed full of cooked fruit, festive spice notes and lifted oak. If you’d like to experience a blend that has youthful sweet fruits, but also impressive oak balance and has older whisky flavours running throughout, then this is a sure-fire bet.

ABV: 52%
Size: 700ml
Find here: £139.95

Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Highland Park 12 year old – Viking Honour

Highland Park's spectacular 12 Year Old expression had a full-on Viking make-over in 2017, (the 18 Year Old is also getting a redesign, too). Stylish new livery and matching sub-name (Viking Honour) aside, the malt remains the same, it is complex with a certain sea air quality and salinity balanced by honey. This is a single malt with lots of character and I’d have it as my solo instrument any day.

ABV: 40%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £29.95 // US $54.99

Talisker 18 Year old

Talisker comes from the Isle of Skye on the west coast of Scotland, this expression has spent 18 years in casks, some of which used to hold Bourbon and some Sherry. The whisky is sweet and smoky with spicy flavours intermingling with the smoke and it has serious credentials. Back in 2007 it won the Best Whisky in the World category at the World Whisky Awards. For me, this is one of the best value versus price single malt whiskies in the world.

ABV: 45.8%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £75.95 // US $169.99

Tomatin 30 Year old

Tomatin 30 year old is one of my favourite 30 year old whiskies, and that is before I consider the price. Finding a 30 year old whisky at under £300 today is pretty difficult, and this is one of the best whiskies of this nature. It is full of honey and spice but has a lot of tropical fruit to balance all the spice and pepper. There is plenty of complexity. Unlike the Talisker, there is no smoke, so if you’re not a fan of smoky whisky, then you should love this. It is indulgent and has finesse at the same time.

ABV: 46%
Size: 700ml
Buy it now for £299

I would be a happy chap if those six whiskies were the only whiskies I could drink from now on. None of them have outrageous levels of smoke or are too sweet and all have complexity. They are my perfect six pack. If you’re intrigued by Scotch and would like to discover some great bang for buck bottles, how about trying a few of these bottles?