Scotch, Bourbon and Rye Whiskey have an interesting relationship. Much like their home countries, they were the same, once. Yet, after crossing the Atlantic, their paths diverged.
Today, they are similar in many ways, but time and distance have created startling differences between forebear and descendants.
What if they were to be briefly reunited?
Long Lost Cousins
The scotch whisky industry is still linked inextricably with the bourbon and rye whisky industry. Oak is the dynamo of aged spirit, and the spirits draw upon Father Oak for much of their flavour. It is this that binds them together. With the sherried European Oak casks used to mature their spirits teetering on the brink of unobtainability, the Scots had to turn elsewhere for their wood. Americans, on the other hand, cannot use the same casks to mature whisky twice- by law!
This is the foundation of a partnership made in heaven. Americans gladly sell their used casks to the Scotch whisky industry. The Scots gleefully use them to mature their own spirit.
You might be able to get the casks out of Bourbon County, Kentucky, but you can’t get Bourbon out of the casks. Inevitably, the oak, pregnant with sweet American whisky and its own vanilla and coconut flavours, passes them on to the sleeping Scotch within.
How this flavour is imparted is a matter of choice. The options are to mature the spirit entirely within ex-Bourbon casks, to blend Bourbon cask spirits with sherried ones, or to “finish” sherried whiskies by maturing them in ex-Bourbon casks for a short time.
Keep on Walking
Johnnie Walker is one of the most recognisable Scotch Whiskies in the world, thanks to a combination of long history, great marketing and good quality. Even in a world where single malts have begun to steal the limelight, it stands tall and proud on the centerstage.
Despite the prejudice of noveau-riche against anything blended, we are of the opinion (and have said before) that blends are not blands. We don’t know if the folks at Johnnie Walker are out to prove that you can do to a blend whatever you could do to a single malt, but they’re doing a pretty good job if they are.
The team there has started experimenting with Blenders’ Batch, a series of experimental Scotch whiskies that go quite far out a blender’s comfort zone. Last year’s Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Red Rye, a combination of three grain whiskies and Cardhu single malts finished in Rye Casks, was the first in the new series. Now, the reunion of American and Scottish whiskies continue in the Blenders’ Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish.
Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish
We’ve spoken briefly about finishing before, and it seems to have gotten fully underway. Here, Johnnie Walker has chosen to one-up the Red Rye by blending grain whiskies with Dufftown and the (now-closed)Port Dundas whiskies. The whiskies were aged in ex-Bourbon American oak casks, then finished for up to six months in rye whisky casks.
Nose: A very bare hint of the Johnnie Walker but so light we might be imagining it. The bourbon notes come through very strongly- vanilla and caramel are high in the nose. Some coconut as well, and the scent of grain finishes it off.
Palate: Rather sweet and full bodied, but retaining a smooth, refined texture. A thimble of coffee and nuts. Dried orange, spice and honey. Some maple syrup as well.
Finish: Medium length, full of nuts and dry spice.
All in all, we’d say that the Blenders’ Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish (a walloping mouthful of a name, to be sure) blurs the line between scotch, rye and bourbon. The influences of the American spirits are keenly felt, perhaps more so than any Scottish whisky before it. Where most of the bourbon-cask whiskies blend elements of their Yankee cousins, this dram seems to have sailed more than halfway across the Atlantic, leaving only light traces of its Caledonian heritage.
Where does this leave the Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish?
It’s neither Scotch nor Bourbon/Rye in practice, but a unique amalgam of both. If you are a fan of either spirit and want to experience the other, then this is a good way to dip your toe into the surf. For purists, this will seem like a strange stitching of distinctly different styles. If you’re neither and just want to enjoy a unique dram at a reasonable price, then this is a fair option at blend prices.
Or, if you enjoy whisky cocktails, then this is also a great choice. We tried an Old-Fashioned, a double shot Whisky Highball and a Manhattan/Rob Roy and this worked out beautifully in each case. The elegance of a Scottish whisky and the freshness of a Bourbon are natural partners in shaken or stirred tipples.
The Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish is priced at S$120 (1L bottle) and available at speakeasy bars, specialist retail outlets and select ecommerce sites.
A Rising Star
Alongside the launch of the Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish, Diageo has engaged Kino Soh, owner and bartender of local bar, Highball, as its Brand Ambassador for the Johnnie Walker portfolio.
Kino started as a barback, but has cut her teeth through stints at FRESH!, co-founding Hopscotch bar and was a finalist in Diageo World Class Singapore 2016. She most recently opened Highball, a bar with an all-lady crew and a focus on the eponymous highballs.
We wish her well in her new role.
