Bakers Dozen of Blended/Vatted Malts Nas-39 year £35-£700

[lincoln imp]

I thought this would be worth doing just to see what quality was like of vatted malts when compared to blends and single malts generally.
I do not think vatted malts outshine the best blends nor do I think they outshine the best single malts but there was some good examples here.

The cheapest was the Johnnie Walker Green Label which was a 2016 bottle, I think I paid £30 for it. I still rate JW Green as a bang for your buck whisky, this bottle is finished now but I have two 2018 bottles stashed, even my wife likes it and she is not a whisky drinker.
In my view it has the best quality/price ratio of the 13 tasted here.
It is also worth noting that the Green label was also better than the JW odyssey bottle which can still be found for around £700, so the JW Green at roughly a twentieth of the Odyssey price gets a higher score so well worth noting.

It came as no surprise to me that the 1979 39 year Berrys was a clear winner here, it has nothing tom do with age, the malts were blended in the same cask as I understand it but nothing was confirmed. In theory it could actually be a blended whisky proper as that is what it says on the label, but I had the bottle and never detected any grain, nor did other people I know, all I can say it was excellent and a good buy at around £170.

The Fiddichside MM was a quality whisky and no surprise that the Highland Fusilier was in the top 4 , it is a strong contender and at only 40% it sill has plenty of power.

The rest in the main averaged 85-87 points combined which is a very respectable score and would class these as being competent but not particularly exciting.

The quality /price ratio of the Odyssey and the now £350 Hazelwood is pretty poor.

The lowest rated here was the Collectivium 28 year Diageo Release and while not bad it is poor for a £150 bottle price tag

So if you cannot find a bottle of the 1979 Berry's or the Fiddichside don't worry there are plenty of Highland Fusilier 15 year at auction and plenty of JW Green in the supermarkets

Here are the results:-

Blended Malt 1979 39 year 53.3% cask 4 Berry Brothers (for RMW) – 91/92/92
The Fiddichside 1981 31 year 47.5% Murray Mcdavid – 87/88/90
Johnnie Walker Green Label 2016 40% – 87/88/87
Highland Fusilier 15 year All Malt 40% square bottle G&M – 86/87/88
Creations 25 year Cadenhead Triple Malt (Islay)46% – 86/87/88
Johnnie Walker Odyssey Rare Triple Malt 40% 2013 – 88/87/85
Epitome Maltbarn 1993 24 year 53.1% sherry cask – 86/86/88
Hazelwood 20 year 40% Centennial Reserve Kininvie – 85/88/86
Hedges & Butler Royal Malt 40% Vatted Highland Malt – 86/87/86
The exceptional Malt 43% 2016 Sutcliffe & Sons – 86/87/86
Scallywag 13 year 46% 2017 sherry cask Douglas Laing – 85/86/86
The Story of the Spaniard 43% 2018 Compass Box – 85/84/85
Collectivium 28 year 57.3% Special Release – 85/83/83

Brief tasting notes, in the order tasted
lowest % abv first



Hedges & Butler
I think my notes from 2018 are still about right for this.
The nose is expressive and the palate is spicy.
There is some bite to the fruit and what is good is the balance, very composed.
The finish is ok, fades slowly on honey with a hint of menthol.
Nice stuff

Highland Fusilier
The sherry mixes with chocolate, treacle tart, mango and peach skin.
The palate is really spicy at first, for only 40% this is punching above it's weight, strangely the mouthfeel is a little thin, but packed with flavour.
As you go on the sweet spice increases and there is some blackberry, hints of full bodied red wine.
It just keeps improving, great stuff, the finish is really long for a 40% whisky.
Worth looking out for at auction for sure

JW Green
A firm every day favourite of mine, nice nose, the palate has peat which is balanced by some nice honey and yellow plum notes, plenty of spice also.
I think Caol Ila is the most noticeable of the 4 malts used to make this whisky up

Johnnie Walker Odyssey
Not tasted this for about 5 years, I wonder if it is as good as I remember?
Cola cubes, what a lovely smell, light spices, faint blood orange, caramel and a little chocolate.
The palate is thinner than I remember and not as sweet, there is something of the rhubarb and custard about it on the palate.
Nice at 40% but 46-48% would have been so much better.
The finish is too short at this price.
Down a few points from last time.

Hazelwood 20 year
Nose
This has plenty of depth to it, mango, faint peach, warm brioche bun, vanilla custard.
Palate
Quite thin on the palate, the fruit is juicy but not very sweet, plum, faint apple, sponge cake, some spice, a little honey. As you go on the palate seems to get a little syrupy, no longer thin.
The finish is ok with a sweet icing sugar twist.
On first impression this would have got a score of 82, this is one you need to give time to and pay attention.
A nice whisky but far too expensive for what you get.

The Story of the Spaniard
The nose is quite expressive, plenty of spice, ginger, brown toast, similar smell to Biryani rice?
Decent mouthfeel at first, flavours are ok but not very exciting.
There is some pepper and ginger spice, a little peat, treacle tart, but also a slight metallic after taste.
The finish is pretty good, but overall while ok, it lacks any spark but at this price point, value wise this is not too bad.

The Exceptional Malt
A fresh nose, on plum, gooseberry and a little apple is followed on the palate by more fruit and some very nice spice at first.
The fruit is mixed with syrup, and hints of orange marmalade then appear, simple profile but it works.
Finish, again is fruity and more spice kick in the tail.
This is a good whisky, better than I was expecting.

Scallywag 13 year
Smell, similar to Bakewell Tart of the nose, a very jammy one at that.
Raspberry, blackberry jam on the palate lingers into a warming finish.
Pretty good.

Creations 25 year
Smoky and briny rather than smoky and peaty on the nose at first.
The peat does arrive on the palate mixing with stewed fruits, like figs and dark plumb and the balance is really good on show here.
If it was just a little bit sweeter it would be really good but still nice stuff and easily drinkable.
It gets quite jammy as you go on which is a big plus which stays throughout the finish.

Fiddichside 1989
Quite a light, zesty nose, hints of lemon, pastry and stroop waffle.
The palate is a little creamy with a big blast of spice and some peat but not very sweet.
Fruit wise it is stewed plum & gooseberry and there is some sweeter fruit trying to get out but the spice checks it.
Balance is good.
The finish is where this picks up a few points, long, warming, fades slowly on stewed fruit & cream.

It would have got 90 points if the palate was sweeter

Epitome Maltbarn
Tasted with a few drops of water

Difficult to describe the nose to be honest.
Distant peat & stewed fruit with something vegetal, it is obscured by something ever so slightly musty?
Not very expressive nose wise.
Spicy on the palate with a little peat and the fruit is nicely weighted so a good start.
The good start is checked by the peppery spice blocking any fruity sweetness coming out, you know it is still there but it cannot get out, shame.
The finish is fine and fades slowly.

Parts of this are good and the finish is nice but more sweetness is need to get it near 90 points, still a decent dram.

Blended Malt 1979 Berry Brothers
Tasted with a few drops pf water
A lovely Jammy nose is followed by a jammy palate, fancy that?
Blackberry, blueberry and some raspberry are the main fruit flavours.
Good balance the sweetness of the jam just edges the spice note but the balance is good.
The finish fades slowly .

This is certainly one of my best bottle purchases of the last 5 years.
I still love it and i still think it is a 92 point whisky, it picks up marks for the balance of fruit & spice.

Collectivium 28 year
The nose is on the briny side with a little peat and some sour apple.
The palate is quite creamy with a lemon/lime sherbet fizz about it, this is what I call industrial, it quite oily.
Balance is not quite there but not too bad.
The finish is ok, it is ok in general but you expect more for the price.
In final summary a plodding whisky that struggles to keep you interested.
_________________
Pour me a glass please.

[TheWM]

I’ve often said that the JW green is an excellent whisky. Was this the 15, or a NAS? And have you tried the JW Green Island at all? If so any thoughts of them against each other. I still have a few 15s from the 90s which I believe used more Linkwood then more recent versions.

[lincoln imp]