When it comes to Scotch whisky there are many brands that offer roughly the same age ranges, 10-year, 12, 15, 18, and 21 with the occasional 25-year or older. But there are very few brands that ONLY offer high-age Scotches, and that’s where House of Hazelwood shines. They offer two collections of exclusively luxury-age statement whisky. We’re going to discuss the collections below, but before we do let’s break down the different classifications of Scotch Whisky.
Everyone has heard of single malt and blended Scotch, but did you know that there are actually five different “styles” of Scotch?
Starting off with Single Malt – this is a whisky distilled in a pot still from 100% malted barley, and then matured for at least 3 years before being bottled at a minimum ABV of 40%.
Next up we have Single Grain Scotch Whisky – this is distilled in a column still from 100% malted cereal grains (which can be all barley). It’s commonly thought that single grain needs a long maturation time to really show the character of the spirit.
Next up, let’s start the blended train rolling with Blended MALT Scotch – This is when you have single malt from at least two different distilleries and blend them together. Common examples include Johnnie Walker Green label, or Compass Box Peat Monster.
Next up we have Blended Grain Scotch Whisky – simply put this is when you combine grain whiskey from two or more distilleries.
Let’s end with the one most people are familiar with from big brands like Dewar’s and Johnnie Walker – Blended Scotch Whisky. This is when you take single malt whisky and single grain whisky from at least one distillery and blend them together to create a new product.
Quick side note, there are VERY few distilleries still in operation today that produce both Malt and Grain Whisky.
Hazelwood’s Charles Gordon collection contains 8 High-Aged Scotch Whiskies:
The Unknown: a 44-year-old Blended Scotch that was distilled in 1978 and blended in 1989 before being matured for 33 more years.
The Old Confectioner’s Blend: a 44-year-old Blended Malt
A Singular Blend: a 1963 vintage blended Scotch whisky
The First Drop: a 1964 vintage Single Grain Scotch whisky
The Next Chapter: a 50-year-old Blended Scotch
The Long Marriage: A 56-year-old Blended Scotch Whisky
Blended at Birth: A 1965 vintage Blended scotch whisky that was “married as new-make spirit; this unusual combination of malt and grain whisky has spent the following 56 years maturing in American oak…”
The Cask Trials: A 1968 Vintage, 53-year-old Sherry cask matured Single Grain Scotch Whisky
The Legacy Collection contains 9 high-aged Scotch whiskies:
The Accelerator & The Brake: a 33-year-old Blended Scotch Whisky that according to HoH takes “the majority of its flavour from the grain as opposed to the malt.”
The Tops: a 33-year-old Speyside Blended Malt
The Lowlander: a 36 year old Blended Scotch Whisky
A Breath of Fresh Air: a 37-year-old Blended Grain Scotch Whisky that HoH describe as “A rare grain whisky of unmatched character that can transport the drinker immediately into a lush, verdant, fresh, mentholic landscape redolent of the Scottish countryside in spring.”
Sunshine on Speyside: a 39-year-old Blended Scotch
The Eight Grain: a 40-year-old Blended Grain that “celebrates all the glorious diversity found within the grain whisky category” according to HoH
A Trail of Smoke: a 42-year-old Blended Malt that is “[a] showcase for the balanced use of smoke, this perfectly poised Blended Malt allows the distillery character and wood influence to take us on a journey with a whiff of smoke ever-present in the background. An evocative release redolent of the remarkable islands from which it hails.”
The Lost Estate: a 43-year-old Blended Grain scotch whisky that HoH describes as “[a] rare and compelling blend of well-matured grain whiskies from two of Scotland’s late, great grain whisky distilleries”
The Spirit of Scotland: a 46-year-old Blended Scotch “[f]irst created in 1994 to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the oldest recorded reference to Scotch whisky within the 1494 Exchequer rolls of Scotland”
Today we’re tasting one expression from each collection, The Eight Grain and The Old Confectioner’s.
The Eight Grain from House of Hazelwood is clocking in at 48.5% ABV or 97 proof, which is impressively strong for something of this age! In the glass it presents as a delicious honey gold with thin but viscous “tears”. The nose is filled with fresh baked bread and salted caramel while the palate is deceptively smoky. It makes you think this is a peated spirit, when actually there’s probably just some peat-dried grain in the blend. It’s a very well balanced whisky with notes of Fuji Apples, fresh bread, lemon, caramel, green peppers, and it finishes with warm vanilla. With the exception of the slight peatiness, all of these are in line with what I would expect from a high-age grain whisky.
The Old Confectioner’s is coming in at 46.3% which again, for a Scotch of this age, is a really respectable proof. In the glass it presents as a nice brown leather with amber highlights. The nose is soft with a delicate note of smoked sea salt followed by more prominent aromas of milk chocolate, french bread, and toffee. The palate is fruit forward – bananas, apples, and maybe a hint of orange, while also being slightly salinic. Flavours of toffee, butterscotch, and sugar cookies finish out the palate on this 44-year-old Scotch.
This brings me to an important bit of housekeeping: I received this sample compliments of House of Hazelwood in exchange for my honest feedback and review. While life might be easier if I were on the take like a dirty cop (I’m not), all of my reviews are honest. The presence (or lack thereof) of a media sample will never affect the outcome of my review.
Tag: sherry cask
Traverse City Whiskey Co. has a solid lineup of core products, 9 to be precise, but what’s the fun in only releasing the same whiskies repeatedly? They recently released a new trio of Wine Casked Whiskies; two Bourbon’s and a Rye, each finished in a different type of wine.
Their standard five-year Bourbon is finished in Ruby Port Barrels, their 100% Rye is aged for over 5 years and then is finished in Cab Franc barrels (Cabernet Franc is the parent grape to both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines). Last, but certainly not least, is their High Rye Bourbon, also aged for over 5 years, this was put into PX barrels! I’m probably most excited about the high rye, ‘cuz I love a PX cask finish!
One bit of housekeeping before we move on: I received these samples compliments of Traverse City and their PR agency in exchange for my honest feedback and review. While life would be much easier if I was on the take like a dirty cop, I’m not, and all my reviews are honest. The presence or absence of a media sample never affects the outcome. That said, I need a drink…
Let’s start with the Cab Franc Finished Rye. This was put into the barrel for first maturation on March 24, 2017, at 123 proof, and was dumped on May 11, 2021. Then it went into a Cabernet Franc barrel from Leelanau, Michigan for 22 months and was bottled at 97.5 proof. One quick note, I do not particularly enjoy rye whiskey so my tasting notes for this expression are gonna be pretty weird.
Appearance: In the glass, this is a nice brown leather with some orange undertones.
Nose: The typical rye spice, while present, is dampened by the wine cask finish. There’s also an earthy/mustiness that leads into notes of cocktail cherries.
Palate: Wow this is a weird palate. It’s got the funk of a whiskey distilled before the 1980s, but it also has a “sour dirt” taste. Like imagine the taste of dirt and sour candy combined, that’s what this reminds me of. On the back of the palate, you get that typical rye spice with a touch of red wine sweetness.
Next up let’s go to their Port Barrel Finished Bourbon. This was barreled on July 22, 2015, at 119.81 proof, and then dumped on October 6, 2020 and transferred to a Ruby Port barrel where it sat for 15 months until it was bottled at 100 proof.
Appearance: In the glass, this is almost copper coloured.
Nose: While present, the port isn’t overly powerful on the nose it reminds me of jaffa cakes. Once you get past the jaffa cake, there’s a hint of what can only be described as silly putty, as well as a lot of oak.
Palate: The palate explodes with chocolate and spiced fruit which is immediately followed by a blast of supercharged sour coating. The port is acting almost like a protective coating around all the other typical Bourbon flavours; vanilla, chocolate, oak, cherry, and butterscotch. All of those flavours are still there, but they’re encompassed by the finish.
Last but not least, let’s taste the PX Sherry Cask High Rye Bourbon! As I said above, I’m a sucker for PX so I’m very excited for this one. Made with 36% rye in the mashbill this was barreled on September 26, 2015, at 113.42 proof and was then dumped on October 20, 2020, before being put into PX for 28 months!
Appearance: Of the three so far, this has the darkest hue. It almost looks like a glass of straight PX sherry, but not quite that dark.
Nose: Maple syrup, milled oats, powdered cacao, subtle notes of mango followed by strawberries and cream.
Palate: It’s like taking a bite out of an English cookie, tastes kinda “mealy” though the finishing cask lends it a nice sweet back note. There is a surprising amount of black pepper in this whiskey, but that’s slightly offset by a mellowed PX sweetness. This whiskey reminds me of Knott’s Strawberry Shortbread cookies.
If you’ve ever asked me about my favourite whiskey, I’ve probably told you I don’t have a favourite bottle but I do have a couple of favourite distilleries; and The GlenDronach is one of them.
I have had the pleasure of reviewing a number of GlenDronach bottlings over the last couple years, with my most recent favourite being Cask #217 from their most recent release of Cask Bottling Batch #19. If you’re interested you can find that review here. So when Gabriela from their PR agency reached out to me about reviewing The GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 11 I immediately said yes.
One note of housekeeping before we can get to the whisky: these samples were provided to me by The GlenDronach and their PR firm in exchange for my honest review. The presence, or absence, of free product has no influence on my review.