Sherry Bombs: The Best Sherry Matured Whiskies in the World

Like Marmite, sherry matured whiskies split whisky drinkers. However, those who like them are some of the most ardent fans in the world, being hugely loyal to their favourite brands. There are the superstars of the sherry whisky world like Macallan and Glenfarclas, but then there are other distilleries producing incredible drams. Their fans will probably not be too pleased I’m putting this list together as some of the whiskies are not made in huge numbers and the more popular, they become, the harder it will be to find them. But for those die-hard fans, they will always find a way.

Macallan

Lets start with the king. Macallan is the undisputed king of sherry matured whiskies. It is the most expensive and the best known brand of sherry whiskies in the world. But this doesn’t mean to say it is the best. There will be many who argue it is, but the rest of this list will show you something to compare it with. But for now, let’s start with a classic.

ABV: 43%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £1499.95 // US $2499.99

Glendronach

The contender. This whisky is becoming better known. The distillery has a cracking 18 year old which is a big and powerful sherry bomb, fulfilling the most ardent of sherry bomb lover’s desires. Each year the distillery also releases some special single cask expressions. These are less expensive than Macallan and rarer, and some would say even more delicious. They are hard to come by, but the 18 is a great place to start.

ABV: 46%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £97.94 // US $179.99

Tamdhu

The sleeper. This distillery came under new ownership in the not too distant past, and they pledged to cask all the liquid that will find its way into a Tamdhu bottle will be matured in a sherry cask. They have a batch released cask strength bottle which is epic, and their regular expressions are exceptional with the oldest at the moment being a 15 year old. An 18 year old is on the way we’re told. I can’t wait.

ABV: 46%
Size: 700ml
Find here: 18 year old UK £78.95 // 15 year old US $72.99

Glenfarclas

Always good value. Glenfarclas has been under the same family ownership for its entire existence. This means the stock they hold has never been re-valued and sold in a distillery sale. This means that they can sell the whisky at a very reasonable price. Although prices have been creeping up over the years to keep roughly in line with other brands, they have a 15 year old which is fabulous, and the best place to start trying sherry style whiskies if you haven’t already.

ABV: 46%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £48.95

Kavalan

Kavalan is in Taiwan and has been making excellent whisky since only 2005. Since then they have become a cult name in whisky and even won the best single malt whisky in the world in 2015. I know how good it was, I was one of the judges. They now produce a series called the solist, of which some are sherry matured whiskies and there is certainly the same DNA in these whiskies as the world-beating dram in 2015.

ABV: 56.3%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £340

Glenmorangie

The hybrid. This whisky isn’t purely matured in sherry, is has spent the first ten years of its life in a bourbon barrel and then a further two in a sherry cask. I would say this is another great place to have a go at a sherry style whisky. With soft spices it gives an introduction to the genre without scaring the horses. For those who like bourbon matured whisky, this will still please, but for those about to start their sherry adventure, it will give you a taste of what might come in the future.

ABV: 43%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £41.75 // US $44.99

The Glenrothes

The little brother. The Glenrothes distillery is owned by the same company as Macallan. For many years another company owned the brand, and they were an old school company called Berry Bros & Rudd founded in 1598. This old school thinking used old school technics and they worked. They used a lot of sherry in their maturation and were not nearly as expensive as Macallan. The Edrington Group, owners of Macallan have now taken the brand back from Berry Brothers & Rudd and are keeping the emphasis on sherry. Still much cheaper than Macallan, but for how long is anyone’s guess. Classic whisky, and deservedly on this list.

ABV: 43%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £99.79 // US $159.99

The Dalmore

The old timer. The Dalmore has been known for their sherry style whiskies for many years. But they have kept innovation going. Rather than maturing in a single style of sherry cask, like an oloroso cask for example, they mature their whisky in multiple styles of sherry casks. For example with their King Alexander III expression, they mature the whisky in no less than six styles of sherry cask. Including Oloroso, but also Matheusala and Apostoles. The results are divine and although one might pay a premium for premium whisky, it is well worth digging deeper into your wallet for this one.

ABV: 40%
Size: 700ml
Find here: UK £159.80 // US $279.99

There really is a sherry whisky for everyone, at every level of sherry from bomb to balanced and at every price point too. If you haven’t tried a sherried style of whisky before, give it a go. What’s the worst that can happen? You find out you don’t like it and can drink the other 90% of whiskies produced. But if you do, you will open up a whole new drinking experience.

I think that the next big thing in sherry whiskies is going to be Tamdhu, and if you’d like to learn a little more about this Macallan beater, read on with a Tamdhu attitude.

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.

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