Dewar's Ilegal Smooth

88 points. A smokey mezcal nose, a sweet agave profile and an alcohol filled finish. An allright scotch that tasted like a young islay.

Thanks @cascode for curating the best two offerings from the Dewars ‘Smooth’ range. Aside from loathing the use of the word smooth for anything but sleight of hand or topography; I am grateful to get to try my first Dewars liquids, allbeit a smooth one. Fitting that I should move onto these having just finished a bottle of Aberfeldy (12) which I understand is the back bone of a Dewars blend. N: Malt heavy with a sweet fruity tingle/burn. I am not that well acquainted with tequila or mezcal so I don’t know if I am noting anything from the cask. There is something vaguely vegetal and crisp in here (like a green bell pepper) with an undertone of herbal smoke or ash. P: A little thin but heading towards creamy. Immediately hit by a smoky honey with dark caramel. This is followed up by some more of the bell pepper but also cracked black pepper. I think I find the tequila as the interplay of vegetal peppery spice and sticky honey-caramel. I get very little out of this. F: Short. Surprisingly creamy, like oaked chardonnay, a got dose of more vegetal pepper spice and some grainy ash. Erm. I honestly don’t know what to say about this. It feels like generic blended malt but with a vaguely interesting vegetal and peppery character to set it apart from bottom shelf generic drams. I’m not fully convinced I know enough about mezcal or Dewars to pass any kind of judgement but for me, its a forgettable but perfectly acceptable, ‘meh’. Thanks again Overlord @cascode Distiller whisky taste #248 [Pictured here with a replica (orange) reconstruction (brown) of the original Austalopithecus afarensis skull, better known as; Lucy. At 3.2 million years old Lucy (or A.L. 288-1) was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia in 1974. Her jaw shares features with both apes and other early hominids. Although the brain size was relatively small, the rest of the skeleton indicated she walked upright, supporting the idea that bipedalism preceded the development of large brains. And why ‘Lucy’? The night she was found the paleontological team celebrated in camp with a cassette of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds playing on repeat.]

Toasted oats, corn, mezcal, oak.

Nose: Shy malt with a light orchard and stone-fruit presence. You do notice aromas associated with agave spirit but they are light and if nosed blind I would not be able to say if this was a mescal or tequila cask, and I certainly couldn’t pick the brand. It’s just not bold enough to allow that sort of discrimination. There’s a tiny hint of ash in the foundation which is very pleasant. Palate: Typical sweet and mildly fruit/cereal Dewar’s house style in the arrival, but it gives way to a growing mescal note as it develops. A little spice is the first thing noticed but instead of the expected gingery quality it takes a left turn into mild vegetal and peppery flavours, with a touch of ash in the background. As with the nose you definitely notice something different to standard Dewars White Label (or 12 year old for that matter), but it’s really not until you know it is mezcal cask finished that the nature of what you are tasting becomes clear. Once you do, however, the presence of mescal as a finish is obvious, and it works very well. The texture is good for a blend, with the foundation Aberfeldy distillate contributing its usual creamy and honeyed qualities. Finish: Very Short. Cereal and a trace of peppered honey with a green vegetative background at the end, but it is a very fast finish. A minute after swallowing there is hardly any trace you ever had it on the palate. This is the second of the Dewar’s cask finished “smooth” range I’m currently tasting. As with the mizunara cask expression I had yesterday it’s satisfying that it has an identifiably individual finish (I wonder if the port cask Portuguese Smooth I’m tasting next will continue the trend?). There’s not much more to add. This blended scotch is just fine as an easy, relaxing sipper neat or over ice, it works as a mixer and it’s reasonably priced. It does offer something more than the standard White Label blend and I'd happily buy this again. I like it a fraction better than the mizunara cask expression so I'm giving it one percentage point more, which gives it the same rating I've previously given to Dewar's 12 year old. “Above Average” : 81/100 (3 stars)

Dewar's are doing a really good job with these 8yo expresssions! Earthy and tart on the nose and palate, short grassy aftertaste, overall the mezcal finish shows pretty well

Nose: lemon, smoke, Taste: sugar, wood, smoke