Scallywag Blended Malt

Excellent peaty taste for a blend.

When most people think about quality blended scotch they instantly think Compass Box, and rightfully so, but Douglas Laing is also putting together some great stuff as well. Here we have Scallywag, a malt blend using only Speyside single malts, namely Macallan, Mortlach and Glenrothes (any others are not named specifically). Matured in both sherry and bourbon casks, bottled at 46% ABV, chill filtered and most likely has colorant added making it an amber gold. I can confirm that it is chill filtered because I made my wife a whisky and water with it (about a 5:1 water to whisky ratio and 2 ice cubes) and even after 20 minutes it remained clear as apple juice. The nose is full on sherry but not overly so, very Macallan-like or a more intense Famous Grouse. Red grapes, raisins and figs. Sherry oak, wood smoke (but not peat). Vanilla, semisweet chocolate, lots of fruitcake. Tobacco, leather, salty, raspberry chocolate. Definite signs of both well aged and youthful stock. After a little time the Mortlach worm tub profile starts to take form with those meaty/mineral notes. The Glenrothes components come in as well with a more honeyed profile. Honeysuckle, plums, melon rinds and dried apricots. Brown sugar, toffee, caramel and a malty biscuit note at the bottom of the glass. The palate is sweet sherry and lots of spices, but not too spicy. Very light peat and wood smoke. Dark chocolate, tobacco and leather. Vanilla, allspice and pepper. It’s all Macallan at first, then more of a Glenrothes feel with a pop of citrus peel, stone fruits and honey, oak and biscuits. More of that Mortlach meaty/mineral funk from the nose. Cinnamon, nutmeg and lots of fruitcake. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is a bit thin and creamy. Mouthwatering The finish is long with sweet sherry, baking spices, fruitcake and dry. When I first opened this blend I was not impressed. It seemed overly spicy for 46% and the Mortlach profile was too strong. There are only a handful of distilleries that use worm tubs that I actually like, Talisker, Edradour, Oban, Old Pulteney, Springbank to a lesser extent but they are growing on me, so that funk was just too much. It reminded me too much of Craigellachie which I am really not a fan of. The first half of the bottle was used for trading samples and once they were poured I let it sit a few months. Going back to it, things really improved. As I made my way towards the end of the bottle it really became a very solid dram. If you are a big Mortlach or Sprinkgbank fan and like sherried scotches then I would highly recommend this one, but I would say to work through it more quickly to maintain that profile. At $70 the price is a bit high, but I would say it still is worth it. A solid 4 Cheers