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Teacher's Highland Cream
Blended — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
July 4, 2017 (edited February 27, 2023)
Nose: Barely perceptible - lighter than either Cutty Sark or J&B. Nothing but ethanol with the faintest wisps of generic "whisky" aroma.
Palate: Hah! You call this a palate? I call it the taste of regret. Once again it's just ethanol with some faint whisky-ish flavour. It's like someone took a bottom shelf scotch and watered it down with industrial alcohol to the point where you can hardly taste anything.
Finish: Mercifully fleeting. Faintly sour, metallic and bitter with no discernible character at all.
This stuff may have 3 year old grain whisky at the heart (well, it has to, doesn't it?) but its personality has devolved into nothing more than "essence of dead cask". It is a huge disappointment and a mere shadow of its once powerful self. There was a time when this had a bold and assertive smoky character from start to finish and it was my affordable mixer of choice, but sadly those days are gone.
A few years ago the brand was purchased, along with several other properties, by Beam Suntory who immediately changed the blend, the packaging and the character of the whisky. The words "Distilled, blended and bottled in Scotland" once appeared proudly on the label. Now it just says "Product of Scotland" which infers that it is shipped in bulk and bottled at the market destination. I'm giving it half a star on the assumption that it doesn't contain methanol.
UPDATE: Re-reviewed 11May18. I took the risk and bought a bottle of this a year after my initial review to see if it had improved at all. It has not, in fact it has deteriorated. In comparison to this, Johnnie Walker Red is nectar.
One last note: I know from experience that there are blends that are much worse here in Australia than overseas - presumably we don't actually get the real McCoy in these cases. Grant's, Black Bottle and others are like this so it's possible that Teacher's might be alright in the UK but appalling over here.
"Very Poor" : 59/100 (0.75 stars)
34.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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I got a bottle of this for my mom last Christmas as a mixer, luckily snagging one of the last "older design" bottles, before they changed it. It kind of had a sweeter version of what I like to call Bowmore's "tobacco quality", but much too sweet and unbalanced like a less-bitter JW Red. I think this may actually be responsible for my 5th star in bunnahabhain 12, since I used it to get the lingering off-putting taste out of my mouth. I don't even want to try the kind you had.
I had Teacher's on my 'to-do list' but after having read your review, it's probably best to get a miniature or a small pour instead of purchasing a whole bottle of this...
This would be a mistake, IMHO Blends are still the backbone of the whisky industry and probably always will be. I remember in the early 2000zms, everything on TV was home repair, then came cooking and more cooking, but that too is fading. I love single malts, but the current craze could end, if the big companies don't look after their core product it may be a mistake in the long run.
Yep - Laphroaig, Bowmore, Ardmore & Auchentoshan. Glen Garioch is owned by Morrison Suntory, which is a different holding company. I'd hope thay have the sense to let Laphroaig and Bowmore at least get on with things unhindered. The problem is Ardmore, which was the heart & soul of Teachers for a century. I reckon the house blend is taking second fiddle to the new single malts from that distillery, which are getting all the good peaty distillate, while Teachers is now based on Ardlair instead.
Aren't these the same people who own Bowmore? I sense a trend and worry about Laphroaig and Glen Garioch.