What are they talking about?

[cowdery]

Headline of a new Dewar's scotch ad:

"We Double Age Dewar's 12 To Ensure The Exceptional Smoothness Of Every Drop?"

Uh? Duh? Buzz?

The picture shows two barrels.

Are they aging it also in a parallel universe? How do they make sure the Evil Kirk doesn't steal it?

[barturtle]

Looked it up. Seems they are referring to a vatting process where they return it to the barrel to let the flavors marry. Damn marketers and the spin they put on everything...

[FlashPuppy]

Well, that now makes my list of things to never drink, no matter how desperate.

[cowdery]

It reminds me of a local car dealer that claims they have "twice the selection of other dealers" because they have two locations.

[Sweetmeats]

Now I have a desire to watch Star Trek. Thanks Chuck!

[TomH]

Well, that now makes my list of things to never drink, no matter how desperate.

Isn't that your opinion about ANY Scotch <G>

Tom

[FlashPuppy]

Isn't that your opinion about ANY Scotch <G>

Tom

All I can think of is that yellow wine lookin "scotch" stuff you had Tom.

[AVB]

The Dewar's 12 is SOOOOOOO much better then the White Label and is in line with other 12 yo from Whyte & Mackay, Chivas or JW IMO.

[ThomasH]

I Have to agree with AVB, I have always liked Dewars, even the white label. However, the 12yr. is miles ahead of the white label as far as taste. I am not an overly big fan of really smoky tasting scotch. I have a few bottles that are quite smoky tasting but I have to be in a mood to drink them. Dewars sems to hit the spot regardless of when I drink it!

Thomas

[cowdery]

Although my bread and butter is people reading about whiskey, I think there are some people who read too much and don't drink enough. How else to account for the disrespect shown to blends?

Single malts are interesting to read about and write about for the same reason bourbons are, because they are the product of a certain place, a certain time, and a certain person. It's harder to romanticize blends. There is a story there as well, but a harder one to tell.

The fact is, a blender can be every bit the artist as a distiller and the distiller is, of course, always a bit of a blender as well. With blends, as with everything, you tend to get what you pay for. There are vile blends, so-so blends and wonderful blends. Fact is, not every single malt is a gem either.

Everything has to do with pendulum swings. When whiskey was a drink no one outside of Scotland and Ireland even knew existed, which believe it or not was only about 150 years ago, it was all what we would call now single malts. Then the coffey still was invented, grain whiskey happened, then malt/grain blends happened, and the blends conquered the world. It was only about 30 years ago that people began to wonder about these flavorful "singles" that made the best blends taste so good, and they began to be bottled and sold in their own right, outside of the Celtic lands.

Now people who were "raised" on single malts are starting to discover blends again. Good, in the sense that we can never have too many sources of pleasure.

The most recent Malt Advocate has a good article about the evolution of blends. Apparently, earlier blends had a heavier malt component and thus a heavier taste, but during and after Prohibition, American drinkers became accustomed to the much lighter taste of Canadian blends and the Scots changed their blends to accommodate. The first of these much lighter blends was Cutty Sark, which was created expressly for the American market.