24th October 2023 |
Review of the
new Glasgow based blending house
'Turntable' core range of premium Scotch
blended whiskies Paradise Funk,
Bittersweet Symphony and Smokin’ Riff.
![Turntable Invention, Firestarter and Purple Haze Scotch Blended Whiskies. Turntable Invention, Firestarter and Purple Haze Scotch Blended Whiskies.](images/turntablewhiskyrange.jpg)
With the dark nights now closing in and
Christmas now fast approaching I am sure
many of you will be looking for a few
new drams to get you through those long
dark nights. How about a premium
blended whisky from the new Glasgow
based blending house 'Turntable' which is a new small-batch
premium blended whisky
brand founded by Glasgow brothers
Gordon and Ally Stevenson, the brand
launched back in April this year with
some limited edition releases.
Building on the success of the first
limited edition releases, Turntable then unveiled three core
expressions which is said to reflect the brothers’
commitment to crafting extraordinary
blends. Retaining the musical theme of
their predecessors, (hence the brand
name Turntable) the core range
comprises Turntable Paradise Funk,
Turntable Bittersweet Symphony and
Turntable Smokin’ Riff. All three
blends are naturally coloured, non-chill
filtered and bottled at 46%ABV.
Turntable have been very open about the component whiskies which make up
each blend, which is great to hear, as
you can see from the list below all 3
whiskies which make up their core range
are single malt rich Scotch whisky
blends.
Turntable
Paradise Funk:
30% Unnamed Speyside Virgin Oak Barrel,
20% Benrinnes Chinkapin Barrel, 18%
Invergordon Ex-Cognac Barrel, 13%
Knockdhu Virgin Oak Barrel, 11% North
British Virgin Oak Barrel, 8% Blair
Athol Bourbon Barrel. A voyage of exotic
delights.
Turntable
Bittersweet Symphony:
22% Craigellachie PX Puncheon, 21%
Balmenach PX Puncheon, 21% Craigellachie
Oloroso Butt, 19% North British Virgin
Oak Barrel, 17% Blair Athol Virgin Oak
Barrel. Fiery sweetness and bold malt
character.
Turntable
Smokin’ Riff:
28% North British Virgin Oak Barrel, 24%
Craigellachie Ex-Puncheon, 21% Knockdhu
PX Puncheon, 18% Caol Ila Bourbon
Barrel, 9% Caol Ila Ex-Red Wine Barrel.
An explosive campfire smoke solo.
"We are beyond excited to introduce our
core range to the world," said Ally
Stevenson. "Whilst most blenders strive
to achieve perfect consistency, we put
quality first every time. We will never
shy away from blending exceptional casks
out of fear that we cannot recreate that
exact flavour profile in the future. Our
core range will evolve each time we
bottle, bringing different nuances to
the whiskies –and we love that.’"
As Turntable aims to establish itself as
a key player in the blended whisky
market, the core range holds significant
promise. While the initial releases were
limited editions, the new expressions
will benefit from greater availability,
making them even more accessible to
connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike.
"We were delighted by the response to
our limited editions in spring, and
we’re confident we’ve crafted an
outstanding range to follow up with the
core blends," said Gordon Stevenson.
"These new expressions will be available
in the same countries as before [UK,
France, Germany, the Netherlands,
Taiwan] but we’re on the cusp of opening
up several new markets, too. We can’t
wait for people to sample what we’ve
come up with."
Turntable has once again turned to
Glasgow creative agency Thirst Craft to
help bring their product to life.
Inventively packaged, the dumpy-style
bottles are designed to stand out on
even the most crowded gantry.
The Turntable core blends Paradise Funk,
Bittersweet Symphony and Smokin’ Riff have a RRP of £53
and will be available from specialist online whisky
shops such as
Master of Malt
|
Turntable Paradise Funk Review
|
Bottled at 46% ABV,
natural colour, non-chill filtered.
William
Morrison's
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Enticing
sweet vanilla toffee and distant
shortbread all with a lovely apple, pear
and cognac soaked raisin edge.
Taste: A
delicious slightly candied tropical
fruit syrup mix (with cognac soaked
raisin, apple, pear and pineapple)
leads, sweet toffee, a touch of sugared
almond and not far behind is some lovely
vibrant peppery oak spice.
Finish: Longish
finish, the sweet tropical fruit syrup
led by the cognac soaked raisin, toffee
and peppery oak spice tussle it out for
an age to have the final word.
Comment:
The virgin oak and delicious cognac cask
along with the portion of sweet grain
whisky have made for a delicious very
easy drinking blend where toffee,
tropical fruit and peppery oak spice are
the stars from start to finish. A
youngish ( I would guess) very well
constructed blend which could give any
single malt a run for your money. Are
Turntable the next compass Box, I hope
so!
SMW Blended
Whisky Score 89/100
|
Turntable Bittersweet Symphony Review
|
Bottled at 46% ABV,
natural colour, non-chill filtered.
William
Morrison's
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Lovely enticing sherried fruit, dark
cherries. orange, also some ripe pear, a
nice touch of vanilla sweetness. Dark
chocolate and a little nuttiness lurking
in the background.
Taste: A
deliciously rich smooth delivery of
lovely sweet sherried fruit - raisins
and sultanas, apricot, peach, plum and
dark cherry all with a bit of a sugar
candied edge. A little vanilla and
treacle toffee peaks through from behind
the fruit, some lovely dark chocolate. A
touch of nutmeg and then the appearance
of some gentle cinnamon and dry ginger
and a late dusting of pepper.
Finish: A long lingering
sherried finish with sherried fruit and
some sweet treacle
toffee which gives way to coffee and mildly
drying oak spice and some delicious
lingering sugars.
Comment:
An absolutely delicious sherried dram,
if you are a fan of quality sherried
drams such as GlenDronach, Macallan
(some), GlenAllachie etc then you will
love this and it is a blend! A high
quality, very well constructed sherried
blend.
SMW Blended
Whisky Score 91/100
|
Turntable Smokin’ Riff Review
|
Bottled at 46% ABV,
natural colour, non-chill filtered.
William
Morrison's
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A
gentle touch of sweet peat smoke, some
vanilla toffee, a little heather honey
and a light barley sugar sweetness,
distant raisin and the the very faintest
note of almonds lurking in the
background.
Taste: A
blend of gentle sugary sweet peat smoke
interlaced with gentle spiced honeyed
toffee, a touch of fresh pear and some
raisin. Some late cinnamon and gentle
oak spice joins the party.
Finish: A
delicious long, lingering finish with
some vanilla, raisin and gentle sweet
sugared peat.
Comment:
The fruit comes through more after a few
mouthfuls, a high quality peated blend
where the sweet grain sugars boost the
peat to make a delicious peated blend
SMW Blended
Whisky Score 90/100
|
Where To Buy Whisky Online
|
Select a country for a list of
specialist Whisky shops who delivers to
you:
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