I keep hearing two phrases around the whisky and whiskey community these days. One is “Blends can be excellent!” (Of course, one can also say “Fast Food can be excellent!” but it rarely is. That aside…) The other is “90-95% of the whisky sold internationally is in blends.”
The aim of these statements is to refocus attention on blends and away from Single Malts. The argument goes that “90% of the market is in blends, so there must be something interesting going on there!” and since many vocal whisky proponents have argued that some blends can be as good as (or better than) equivalently-priced Single Malts, the inferred conclusion is obvious: try blends!
As eloquent blogger Oliver Klimek notes in his recent article, the “harsh grain” flavor present in most entry-level blends (the ones on your local bar’s shelves) fade to nothing after 18 or so years of wood maturation. At this point, the refined flavors of the grain blend harmoniously with the malt character of the singles in the blend, yielding a masterful and elegant marriage of flavors. This is also why well-aged single grain whiskies such as the Irish Greenore are receiving a certain amount of fanfare – they have proven that with artisanal distilling and careful aging, single grain whiskies can be as good as malts.
This is all well and good, but I’ve yet to see a bar selling 18+ year old blends alongside the Johnnie Walker Black Label and the Chivas. My local spirits shop also stocks very few blends of that age alongside a 100+ selection of Single Malts.
My conclusion, also, has to be obvious: If only 10% of the market is in single malts, and 18+ aged blends are even harder (for me) to find, then there’s no way that any significant percentage of the remaining 90% is made up of those blends. Therefore, most of the world (up to 90% of the purchases) is drinking harsh, only-good-for-mixing, cheap, low-quality young blended whisky or whiskey. Why are they doing this? Ralfy at ralfy.com answered this very question: “To get pissed!”
“But most Irish whiskey is blended, isn’t it?”
Ok, so I love Redbreast 12 year. I think it’s far better than some 12-year-old Scotches, and also better than some similarly-priced single malts. As Oliver points out, if the Scots made “blended” whisky in pot stills and aged it appropriately, it could easily be as good. I don’t think this an argument for blends in general. There are only two Single Pot Still Irish Whiskeys (Redbreast and Green Spot). Blended Irish whiskeys, on the other hand, are generally on par, quality-wise, with Scotch blended whiskies when they are made with a significant component of column-still grain spirit (as opposed to “pure pot still”).
“But Compass Box…!”
Compass Box has done an amazing job bringing blends to the masses. They have an impressive lineup of bottlings that prove they know how to think outside of the box when it comes to Scotch. (Hah! Outside the box! Get it?) I still think the above arguments apply here, as most Compass Box bottlings are more expensive than the malts that they compare favorably against. Also, several award-winning Compass Box products are actually “Blended Scotch Malt Whisky”, or blends of all-Scottish malt whisky without any grain component. However, one can hardly use an all-malt product as a basis for arguing in favor of blends that contain grain. Apples and oranges. It should be no surprise to anyone that a blend of several high-quality single-malt whiskies yields a high-quality product.
Conclusion
It all comes down to taste. No matter what 90% of the world is drinking, and no matter how much age a blend takes to become drinkable, the statements “Blends can be excellent” or “Single Malts are usually the best” don’t mean much. The onus is on individual consumers to taste as many different whiskies as possible, with help from journalists and retailers (and not solely industry reps, who are inherently biased) to point them in the right direction.
I’m just sick of hearing people defend blends in general when I point out the weaknesses of a young grain-y blend. Sure, some blends can be excellent, but if you’re going to take that stance, tell us which ones! The statement should be “Expensive, well-aged blends can be excellent.” I’ll believe that.
90% of the world isn’t drinking just to get drunk. Get your head out of your ass.
A huge portion of the world is price sensitive, meaning that we can’t routinely drop $150 on a bottle of booze. Some of us want to find decent whiskys at lower prices, and that usually means blends. $30 is a lot for most people to pay.
Yeah, lower priced blends aren’t single malts. But not everybody is slugging them down to get slammed- in fact, I would wager that very few are. Most of the get slammed crowd is drinking vodka, crappy candy flavored liquors, Captain Morgan and Jack Daniels.
How about the person reviewing whiskys on his blog tell us which blends are good? Honest reviews. You don’t even have to give them good ratings, just describe the character. For somebody dropping hundreds on a bottle, a few bottles of $10 and $20 whisky shouldn’t be a huge investment.
But you probably won’t, since you’re apparently an arrogant prick. I found this post searching for reviews on blended scotches, because I care about taste and don’t particularly want to bankrupt myself. I only wish other whisky bloggers didn’t share your attitude.
Hi Jeff, I’m sorry that you have to use such language when starting a valid discussion about an important topic – this is the kind of dialogue that I think is very interesting, and useful for the industry as a whole. However, I don’t feel that I can have a reasonable conversation with someone who refers to me in those terms without having done any kind of research at all. If you’d looked back through my site, you’d see that I’ve already reviewed quite a few inexpensive blends – as well as inexpensive bourbons and world whiskies. I never spend more than $100 on a single bottle of whisky, although I review them when I can get a sample to taste. Had you spent any time at all looking at the site before lashing out in this manner, you’d have seen reviews for two kinds of Famous Grouse, Tullamore Dew, Chivas and Teacher’s, Jameson and Powers (I drink Jameson frequently, neat), as well as Jack Daniel’s, Rittenhouse Rye, Wild Turkey 101 (my go-to bourbon), Old Forester, and Bulleit.
But you didn’t, because you’re a hotheaded Internet troll.
Jeff P does have a good point if you read between the ranting, that there are plenty of people who like whisky but just don’t have the money to spend on single malts. However, I think that in general, these people are in the UK, where I read often about people drinking popular blends like Bell’s, Teacher’s, and Famous Grouse. In the US, bourbon is much more affordable so I think you get a large portion of those people end up drinking bourbon instead of blended scotch/irish, because bourbon is simply better whisky for the money than blends. Now, that doesn’t guarantee that you will like bourbon better, but it is better quality without the cheap-vodka harshness. That said, I am diligently going through all the $20-25 blends out there trying to find one that is really enjoyable, but honestly, they have all fallen below the “enjoyable” mark for me, so I will probably mostly stick to bourbon in the long run. That doesn’t mean some of them aren’t plenty drinkable, like Famous Grouse and Jameson’s.
However, I don’t agree with Jeff P’s assumption that “very few” people drinking cheap blended scotch are just doing it to get drunk, as I guess that most of the blended scotch sales are on the shelf below Famous Grouse. I would hazard a guess that the small minority of blended scotch goes to sipping neat.
Ryan, Thanks for this very level-headed commentary. I agree with what you said, although I still have the same “difficulty” finding inexpensive bourbons that I consider enjoyable neat. I’m partial to some inexpensive ryes (Rittenhouse), and I like Knob Creek and Wild Turkey 101, but they still are less interesting to me than some $30 single malts.
I think the point of my post stands. If you’re looking to spend, let’s say, $40 or less on a bottle of whisky. Your choices are: A decent but not excellent bourbon, any non-age-statement blended Scotch, or a very small handful of single malts (Laphroaig 10, maybe Macallan 12 if you find a good deal, The Balvenie DoubleWood, Speyburn 10, Finlaggan OR). Despite the repeated statements in the whisky criticism circles that blends “aren’t all bad”, they’re generally talking about well-aged blends like JW Blue, Ballantine’s 17, and the older Chivas line. Stuff way over $40. The rest is, in my experience, mostly not worth the (low) price of admission, thus making inexpensive single malts a relatively good bargain.
I believe what Jeff P was trying to say, although hostilely, is that I should be addressing the percentage of the population who can’t afford to spend $30-$40 on a bottle of scotch to drink neat (although I maintain that a $30 single malt gets you more “drinks” than an equivalent purchase of decent beer or wine). Unfortunately, the high prices of single malts are not my doing, and frankly I’m writing this blog for people who are interested in under-$100 whiskies. If Jeff P does not fall into my target audience, then I invite him to read about whisky elsewhere.
First of all, yes let’s forget about Jeff P’s rant and what he thinks your blog should be, since your blog can be whatever you want it to be!
I think I’m getting your point about the NAS blends: single malts in the same price category are better. And, I definitely get it. However, where you live does play a role. I live in Pennsylvania, with state-controlled liquor stores. The cheapest single-malt available to us from your list is $45. Even Glenlivet 12 is $35. So for me, I see a bigger dichotomy between blends and single malts because there isn’t much price overlap here.
That said, I can honestly say that I would pour myself a glass of Johnnie Walker Black Label over some cheap single malts, like The Glenlivet 12. Of course, we have left the realm of NAS blends as JWBL is 12 years old. So there you have it: you say “tell us which ones,” and to that I say Johnnie Walker Black Label, but that is the only one I’ve found that can compete with single malts. The only other defense of blends I have is that they can be drinkable when you cannot find a good single malt in that price range.
Just to add to some respectful derision, and I am in means a well sampled expert, but I love the hell out of Black Bush. Until today I had only forayed into Irish blends, and while I’ve had a lot of good drinks, the Black Bush felt like it had something special going for it, even with that little corn-y tone. But the fact that I could identify the corn, and it evolved with some other flavors, I think it was a worthwhile buy. Not that my Jameson and Tullamore are not, but the Black Bush seemed more crafted and less industrial.
Hey,
I was just using your site to research a post on my own blog (Drink it How You Like it) investigating the correct way to drink scotch. Check it out if you’ve got time.
I was just looking at some of your other posts too, and I wanted to say I appreciate your approach. Your site is unbiased and informative, so well done. I’m going to add it to the links section on my blog.
Cheers!
Neil,
Thanks for the comment, and thanks for the mention on your article about booze snobbery. I’ve linked back to you in the sidebar as well. Cheers!
For the most part I have to agree with you when it comes to blended Scotch whiskies. There are only a few that stand out from the crowd; Ballantine’s, Teachers and Grant’s are decent enough for drinking neat. The biggest problem I have with blended Scotch is that most of them tend to be so sweet. With regards to Irish blends, I really have to disagree with you. Irish blends are a step up from blended Scotch in every aspect, no matter which brand. Take Jameson for example, this is a triple-distilled whiskey made from about 50% grain whiskey and 50% pure pot still whiskey and it’s just excellent. My reasoning as to why it is so good is that it is made at one single distillery. In other words, all of the whiskies are made specifically to make Jameson and in that, they have a far greater control on the outcome but not having to rely on so-so malts sourced from some lesser known distillery (like the Scotch blenders have to do). All whiskies in Jameson are tailor-made for that whisky alone and this shows in the quality and the excellent consistency of their bottlings. Believe me as I have drunk many a bottle of Jameson in my lifetime and I am still astound by this. It just beats the Scotch blends on every aspect.
I would agree about Irish blends being better than Scotch blends, in general. Where I live in the UK Irish blends tend to be a little more expensive than scotch ‘budget’ blends like Bells, Teacher’s or Grouse (say £5 or so); but to my taste, they are poles apart. I will happily drink Bushmill’s original, say, neat and quaff it quite happily. I can’t drink any of the Scotch named above without ice and probably wouldn’t choose those over Irish blends at any time. Could be just personal taste but I find the Irish more ‘smooth’, flavourful and less of the grain sweetness present. That said I am a big single malt fan and generally prefer Scotch SMs over Irish!
My attitude toward blends is that they’re almost an entirely different category of drink fit for an entirely different purpose and that, with a few (pricey) exceptions, trying to compare them to single malts doesn’t make sense. Dewar’s White Label and Johnny Walker Black Label are not designed for a connoisseur’s deep dive into flavor exploration. They’re designed for you to toss an ice cube into them or mix them with something else at a party or a club where you’re more interested in socializing than thinking too much about your drink. I would say that they’re even superior for that purpose – a good single malt would be wasted on such an occasion.
But trying to use a bottle of Johnny Walker as a substitute for a single malt in a setting where a single malt is called for just won’t work. It’s not designed for that. To me, defending cheap blends against single malts is like defending a hammer to people who need a screwdriver. People who like single malts are not just looking for any beverage with the word “Scotch” on the label.
Among the many things I like about Ralfy.com and his Youtube reviews is that he grades blends on a separate scale from single malts because he understands that he’s not comparing apples to apples.
Good points, Eric, thanks. I don’t rate blends on a separate scale because I don’t consume them differently (although, as you say, they are not always meant for sipping in contemplative solitude). I can’t rate blends on their merit with ice or mixers because I dislike scotch on the rocks, scotch-and-water (really any dilution below 40%), and am not a cocktail drinker. Also, some blends (the recently-released Bank Note, for example) that are an excellent alternative to a pricey malt for sipping straight, and bring down the overall cost of my whisky addiction. *Those* are the blends I want to search out and review. Pity there are so few of them.
I am only just recently getting into drinking whisk(e)y and this blog has opened up my eyes into the world of scotch and other whiskies. I have been a religious reader of this blog lately, and I believe I have read every review and most of the articles available on the site in the past few days. I have finally decided that it is only right to make this post, thanking you, Scotch Noob, for doing what you do, taking the time to share not only your opinions, but effectively conveying the essence of what drinking scotch should be. You need to know that your voice is being heard, and your words are falling on eagerly accepting ears.
Thank you, and keep doing what you’re doing!
Thanks so much for the kind words, Dalton! Best of luck on the continuance of your whisky journey. Cheers!
There are connoisseurs and dilettantes. I’m the latter. Mostly, I drink blends (Ballantyne’s 12, JB Black, W&M 13, Black & White, Teacher’s, Black Bottle, Black Bush) because they are accessible and I enjoy them. I have about 6 bottles of good malt. They are neither better, worse or hugely different, in my opinion. I applaud the connoisseur who can get so much out of a sniff, a sip and a swallow and it certainly makes for interesting (and amusing) viewing and reading. At the end of the day, it’s a drink guys, enjoy it whatever your poison may be (sensibly, of course). Rounding off the evening with a Dimple 15, I fancied something sweet. Cheers!
Thanks for the comment, Mark! Whenever someone tells me that they think whiskies (or, specifically, scotches) are all too similar to bother comparing them, I always suggest they go out of their way to lineup the following tasting: Laphroaig 10, Aberlour abunadh, and Oban 14. Try these three whiskies side-by-side and it will be clear to anyone how much variability there is in scotch. It was this kind of tasting that really got me thinking about how one goes about picking a scotch off the shelf – there are so many, and the differences (between most of them, anyway) are vast enough to warrant not just one blogger, but dozens. Cheers!
Note: I’m speaking of malts, above, but the same does apply to blends. Put a Johnnie Walker Red Label and a Johnnie Walker Black Label in there, along with Great King Street: Artist’s Blend and I think you’ll see what I mean.
To me a train is a train, a plane a plane, but to the avid ‘spotter’ they are things of wonder. Politics, art and music, on the other hand, now there’s something to get your teeth into. Yes, whiskey has a broad spectrum of flavours but the reason blends account for 90% of sales is that for most people, when it comes to enjoying a beverage, good is good enough and we will find our favourites. I have 15 bottles of blended but have a core of about 6 I drink regularly (not simultaneously). I have made the JW Red to JW Black transition – some whiskey is simply beyond the pale. GKS is on my list. Keep up the good work
Boy, is that Dimple cloying, even to a dilettante like me!
This is an interesting opinion on blends. I’m still making my way through all the reviews and such but I like the approach you have. Peoples palates differ though and I personally find myself drawn to blended whiskeys. Part of this comes from pricing. I have never tried a scotch in my life, because I cant find any nips or tastings and so $50 is too much of an investment on something i don’t know if I will ever like.
Another part comes from being a chef. I don’t have the refined taste and palate of a true connoisseur but I have never found a cheap whiskey to be “cheap”. Every whiskey I have tried or owned I can see a very specific place and use for. Sure some of them are nothing to write home about but they still have their own merits.
Maybe my whiskey journey is just underdeveloped. Maybe I have just been grabbing the lucky few good ones. Alberta Distillery Dark Batch (Dark Horse outside the US) is a good blended Rye in my opinion and at $23 its lower on the budget scale. Would I measure it against any of the $50+ single malts you have reviewed? No. I find the differences in the whiskey to be like tasting a wine. Just as I cant compare a Pinot Grigio to a Port and say one is better, I personally cant compare A blended Rye to a Kentucky Bourbon and say one is better. They are different drinks with different purposes.
My introduction to Scotch came via Johnny Walker Black. I had it with ice and enjoyed it. I went out and purchased a bottle and enjoyed with and without ice. My next purchase was Johnny Walker Double Black. I enjoyed that even more. It was some time around this bottle that the words single malt came floating into my world. I was told they could taste ‘different’ and not in a good way. I was told I needed to watch what I buy before delving into single malts. It felt a little scary. Instead, I opted for Johnny Gold – loved it. At 90 bucks, it’s steep. My first purchase of a single malt was on a visit to California. I picked up a bottle of Macallan, The Directors Cut. I also picked up another Double Black – prices there so much better than in NJ. I really enjoyed the Macallan. I’ve since bought Dalmore 12 and Highland Park 12 as well as a bottle JW Gold. Looking forward to my next purchase. And I really am glad to have come across this site and all its useful and entertaining information.
On my third bottle of a great inexpensive blend. No grain just malt. $30/bottle Monkey Shoulder. Do your research it’s well worth the experience. Hope y’all enjoy
Not worth the money (maybe if it were $20.00…)
Get a bottle of Glenmorangie – it is less money and tastes better.
My humble opinion: “good” whiskey is actually pretty bad in the “wrong” situation (note the quotation marks; they are there intentionally).
Imagine if you put a strongly peated stuff (like Laphroaig 18) into a fruitier cocktail, well… At that point, a piece of bacon serves just as well; tastier, too, since bacon does makes everything better. Just saying.