Blended Whisky -- A mix of many barrels of malt whisky from different distilleries with many more barrels of grain whisky, watered down to 40%-43% ABV.
Blended Malt -- A medley of single malts from multiple distilleries, usually watered down to a 40%-46% range.
Single Malts -- A blend of hundreds, sometimes thousands of different casks of malt whisky from a single distillery, then often mixed with a portion of local water.
High-strength single malts, like Glenlivet and Glenfarclas 105 -- Blends of numerous casks, kept at a high ABV, and sometimes even watered down a bit obtain the profile desired by the producer.
Though the term "blend" has had a negative connotation (courtesy of cheap low-quality brown stuff) in the whisky world, blending is not a bad thing. In fact it's an art. It can be alchemy, mixing multiple whiskies with completely different characteristics in order to achieve a single statement. It's adding 4 + 3 and somehow getting 8. Sometimes the results are modern delights like Ardbeg Uigedail or Balvenie Tun 1401. Sometimes the results are more perfunctory, with blends like Johnnie Walker Red Label and Dewars White Label.
From David Stewart to Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender can be a distillery's most valuable asset, aside from the amber liquid itself. They're the ones who figure out the recipe, the flavor, nose, texture, finish, the entire experience.
It wasn't until I listened to an extensive interview with John Glaser of Compass Box (courtesy of David Driscoll of K&L Wines), that I ever considered tinkering with my own blends. Glaser had been making small blends for friends for years while working for Johnnie Walker's corporate office before he made the leap to start his own whisky company. The man has since mastered the magic of blended malts (Flaming Heart, Peat Monster, Oak Cross, Spice Tree) and his every new release is a cause for excitement.
I took Glaser's words as encouragement. So I gave blending a try.
I am no John Glaser.
ROUND 1: The Benbeg Sauternes
I owned two bottles of which I had very separate opinions.
1. The Ardbeg Ten -- loved it; would take a stinky bath in it if I could; plus I had some whisky to spare in a mostly full bottle.2. Benriach 16yr Sauternes Finish -- was down to the end of the bottle; did not love the stuff; can understand some of the appeal of the wine finish, but it was far from being appealing to my palate.
I wondered, "What would a young Ardbeg taste like with a French wine finish?" So I mixed up a tiny batch.
First rule of blending: A little bit of peat goes a loooooooooooooooooong way.
I did not know this at the time. Now I know.
I mixed five parts Ardbeg Ten with three parts Benriach 16yr Sauternes Finish. In hindsight, I probably should have rethought that ratio.
The mix, the home vatted malt, was married for a mere 48 hours in a little glass bottle.
Second rule of blending: Let your blend marry. Allow the new couple some time to get to know each other.
48 hours was probably not enough. But I don't think time would have rescued this relationship. Here are my notes:
March 12, 2012
NEAT:
Color -- Sauvignon Blanc
Nose -- Sweet, meaty, hammy. Honey and baked bananas. Mellows with time, but there's lots of ham.
Palate -- Peat wins this round. Some band-aids. Butter. Boston creme. Drying yet sweet.
Finish -- Long peat smoke only, very drying
W/WATER:
Nose -- Sauternes finish up front like a sickly sweet varnish
Palate -- Very creamy, brown sugar, Ardbeg peat, gets quite bitter
Finish -- Sweetens up, grainy, then more bitterness. A heavy NutraSweet aftertaste.
Actually, these notes are very polite. For a more accurate measurement, here's the lone final comment from my notes:
"never again".
Neat, it was ham and peated Boston creme pie.
With water, peated bittersweet varnish that I couldn't scrub off my tongue.
Happily, I only used 50mL of whisky. Unhappily, I drank the whole 50mL. Later, I woke up in the middle of the night with the reek still on me. Don't do this. Don't repeat this blend.
Two questions then arose, what if I blended two malts I like? And what if I blend two malts I don't?
Let's find out those answers this week.
