If you spend any time around whisky drinkers, especially men of a certain age, you will have heard someone decry blends. Something about how you should never drink blends and that all blends are inferior to a single malt. This view clashes with the fact that the most sold British whiskies globally are blends (Jameson, Johnnie Walker, Ballentine’s, Chivas Regal, Grant’s). So, what’s going on? Why the animosity towards blends? And, why do they continue to be successful in the face of adversity?
Let’s start by defining what a blend is. For the sake of simplicity, I shall only cover British definitions. Because our whisky making compatriots overseas have different traditions when it comes to whisky making, trying to include all variations of definition would be a long and tedious process.
A blend is whisky made from distillate taken from multiple distilleries, multiple mash bills, or multiple still types. This means that there are 3 kinds of blend. The first is a blended malt, which is still 100% malt whisky like a single malt, but those malt whiskies come from different distilleries. The second is a true blend, where you mix malt whiskies from different distilleries with grain whiskies from different distilleries. And finally some madmen mix different grain whiskies to create a blended grain. There are some distilleries that are capable of making blends exclusively using their own distillate due to them possessing both pot and column stills, or because they distill both single malt and single grain style whiskies using their pot stills. These are not called single blends, as they are rare enough to not warrant their own category, but I felt it should be included as a fun fact.
I would also quickly like to mention that some companies have brought out ‘international’ blends, which combine whiskies taken from distilleries all over the world, this isn’t really relevant to this article I just think its extremely cool and some of them (Such as the Boutique-y out of this world whisky blend) are genuinely fantastic and well worth seeking out and drinking.
Blends are what built Scotland’s whisky industry and almost destroyed Ireland’s, but ultimately brought about the industry revival there too. I won’t go too in depth on the history of blending (I’m sure I will at a later date) but there is a reason that blenders own the majority of distilleries in Scotland and Ireland. The turning point for blends falling out of favour with the ‘connoisseur’ can be traced back to 1963, when William Grant, faced with a massive surplus of malt whisky, decided to cannibalise their own blend in order to sell more malt whisky. They ran an ad with the line “Sit when you drink Glenfiddich, you may never stand for a blended Scotch again.”. The change was not instant but it was meteoric, malts were now superior to blends not just an ingredient in them, and in the subsequent sixty-odd years the damage has been done. Convincing people who take whisky seriously to drink blends is no easy feat. Yet the fact remains; blends still outsell malts worldwide. There are two simple explanations for this. Firstly, a blend takes whisky from many distilleries, so unlike single malts they aren’t restricted by individual distilleries production capacity and so can produce far more bottles a year. Secondly, due to the high ratio of grain whisky used, blends can be far cheaper, and the majority of drinkers ultimately decide with their wallet.
I was once at a tasting event in Edinburgh, where the brand rep hosting us said that a single malt should be thought of as a single virtuosic instrument, and a blend is the coming together of the whole orchestra. Now, sadly, the blend the rep was showcasing was quite a middling mass market one, so that orchestra was more akin to the one at my primary school than the London philharmonic. It is true though. I believe that blends are capable of achieving more range and nuance than single malts due to the ability to select from a greater range of flavour profiles. This does not mean that all blends are great, or even good, just that the entire category should not be dismissed when there are some truly incredible offerings out there.
If you want to know where to start with great blends here are some brands to check out.
Compass Box- They are responsible for repositioning blends as a serious offering for whisky connoisseurs. A personal favourite is Juveniles, which comes with a delightfully whimsical bell in the punt. Also worth trying to find: Vellichor, which was truly eye opening.
Thompson Bros- Often have some great blends in their offerings offering quality at many price points. Check out TB/BSW over 6 years for a blend that punches incredibly far above its price point.
Clonakilty- Now, admittedly, I am more excited about their single pot still release, and slightly biased as we have secured a parcel of their incredible casks to offer our clients. But, The Clonakilty blend is an incredibly fine Irish whiskey with complexity well beyond its age. Worth trying if you haven’t already.
House of Hazelwood- slightly too premium for many, but their collection contains truly special whiskies, and I really like the design of the bottles. I was lucky enough to attend a tasting where I got to sample most of the range. The tasting fell on one of the hottest days of the year, where incredibly old and complex whiskies were not really what I wanted to be drinking, one could not call them refreshing. I face such hardship and adversity in the pursuit of whisky.
