A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky

Blended Scotch Whisky - specially bottled for The Whisky Exchange - 2022 Edition - 50.5%

Ho Ho Ho!

Another orbit around the Sun, and another Xmas is looking at us straight in the face. And that means it's that time of year when The Whisky Exchange launches their annual festive tipple.

This year, it's a blended whisky that's bursting with flavour and a perfect dram as a fireside sipper or a hip flask warmer.

What is also great is that the guys at TWE have disclosed the transparency about the makeup of this whisky. You really know what you're getting here.

Appearance: Deep rustic gold with a hint of red. Thick oily legs.

Nose: Sweetness and spice (very seasonal!) Lots of vanilla, toffee, pastry, Digestive biscuits, and some red berries. There's an underlying sweet-sherry foundation with some sweeter notes of cake spice.

No alcohol burn here, and everything is nicely integrated.

Palate: The first sip delivers a lovely sweetness with notes of vanilla, butterscotch, gentle ash, and heaps of fruit. The obvious presence of grain has worked really well and doesn't deliver that generic "bulk filler" note that can sometimes happen with certain blends. The choice Strathclyde and Cameronbridge grain whiskies offer deep, tasty vanilla and toffee.

A second sip now allows you concentrate on the other dimension of this whisky, namely the sherried malt whiskies . Glen Elgin, Linkwood, and Blair Athol have gone into the cooking pot here and they produce a deeper fruitiness with rich sherry and a sprinkling of spice. The pastry element that was picked up on the nose now becomes a lovely sweet shortcrust pastry note on the tongue.

Finish: Long with a spice-infused sweet oiliness accompanied by vanilla, sherry, toffee, and peppery warmth.

Conclusion: A really solid blend with lots of depth, warmth, flavour and body.

Available exclusively at The Whisky Exchange for £85 (at the time of writing)

Many thanks to Billy Abbott for the sample. And whilst I'm at it - Billy has published a lovely book "The Philosophy of Whisky" that would make a rather good stocking filler. Find it here.