Jon, Mark and Robbo's

[jpact]

Has anyone tried these or have anything to say about them?

I saw them in the local liquor store and the label initially turned me off. It's kind of "folksy" and looks small time. And I'll admit that the lack of a Glen-whatever in the name created unease; I mean, where's the storied history? But I acknowledge that I'm kind of dumb about these things.

So anyway I came across an interesting article about these whiskies:

"In 2002, Scottish brothers Jon and Mark Geary approached David Robertson, former master distiller for the Macallan label, about creating some whiskies that ordinary people could relate to."

http://www.travellady.com/Issues/December05/FriskyWhisky.htm

Hmmm. Seems like good credentials.

Then I look them up in the Bible and Murray likes them. "The Rich Spicy One" gets an 89 and "The Smokey Peaty One" gets a 92 in the Scottish vatted malts section. And over in the Irish single malts section "The Smooth Sweeter One" scores 89.

And the price isn't obnoxious either.

So, I'm intrigued. Thoughts?

[sku]

They aren't my favorite but they are good for the price. They are blends or vatted malts that came out around the same time Compass Box did as part of the trend of issuing malts by flavor characterizaton instead of by age or other issues.

I ended up buying a bottle of the Smoky, Peaty one, which was pretty nice, but not really all that smoky considering the name.

[CorvallisCracker]

I've sampled all three, and felt that they do a good job of matching their descriptive names and thus provide a useful mechanism for demonstrating different malt styles. The prices (about $30 IIRC) are reasonable.

I like the "Smooth Sweeter One" (about 70/30 Irish/Scotch) enough that I'd buy it if it was available here in OR.

Yes, the labels are unpretentious. If that's a problem, you can always keep them in a closed cabinet along with the Captain Morgan. :grin:

[Gillman]

I agree, good value, and the Irish/Scotch vatting is the best IMO. What they are doing is probably combining a malt whiskey from Connemara and a Scots malt. Or perhaps one of the whiskies is a grain. Anyway, it's very nice.

Gary

[CorvallisCracker]

"Rich, Spicy" is a vatting of Tamdhu, Highland Park, Glenrothes and Bunnahabhain.

"Smokey, Peaty" is a vatting of Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Bunnahabhain, Highland Park, Ledaig and Bowmore.

"Smooth, Sweeter" is described as a vatting of "whiskey from Cooley's" (i.e., unspecified) and Bunnahabhain.

I've also seen reference to a "Fresh, Fruity One" but I've never seen this. It may not be produced any longer.