Highland Black 8 Year

Inexpensive blends reviews: Addendum. Nose: Fairly generic malt notes, sherry and grain whisky. Not overly impressive but thankfully free of the rubbery taint often encountered in inexpensive blends, and with a certain full and generous presence. Palate: Again, quite full and fruity with raisins and some sherry notes. Nutty flavours and a Christmas pudding character, but a little dilute. Hard to dislike. Finish: Fairly short with the fruity sweetness lingering but finally decaying into a slightly sour note, which is the only real mis-step. For an inexpensive blend this is not bad. There is a most pleasant smoothness, almost a creamy sensation, to the mouthfeel but I wouldn’t call it rich. Good body and taste, although the nose is somewhat distant. Water does not improve it, and it is quite pleasant neat. As a mixer it gets a bit lost but adds an agreeable fruity sweetness to soda or cola. You need to A-B taste this neat against other cheap blends to appreciate how good it is. Recently this was awarded a slew of accolades and is currently (mid 2018) being touted in popular magazines and sites as a giant-killer and the best thing in whisky ever. Nonsense. It’s a good mid-shelf blend that represents exceptional value - that's all. The price is close to the bottom of the range, but it is competitive against big name blends costing $10-15 more. “Average” : 76/100 (2.5 stars)