@ContemplativeFox I am not a huge fan of Macallan and Highland Park, there is too much marketing involved. However, I think it would be unfair to dismiss them entirely, there is definitely quality there. It's just spoiled by the poor presentation.

@cascode Yes, this cask was most definitely not filled for the Asian market in 2001. I have seen quite a few 'blended at birth' Edrington malts, got another one which is a 50:50 Macallan/Glenrothes combination, matured for 25 years in a sherry cask: https://distiller.com/spirits/speyside-blended-malt-1993-25-year-whivie-be; they must have started to experiment with their new make spirits some time in the 90s.

Interesting. Whatever other distributors are involved this was produced by Edinburgh independent bottler Gleann Mór and when it was casked all the component whiskies were from Edrington distilleries. I wonder how they came by it – maybe it was one of a series of Edrington experimental caskings that had to be unloaded to an IB after Glenturret was sold off to Lalique? I doubt it was specifically made for the Asian market in 2001.

@Slainte-Mhath Jelly babies are very different and infinitely superior.

Haha harsh burns on this whisky despite the high rating. Nice to see one of these premium blends coming out at higher than 40% ABV.

@WhiskeyLonghorn You are welcome, I wasn't aware that the term 'jelly babies' is not commonly used in American English. There might even be a subtle difference between gummy bears and jelly babies, I think the latter is more sticky and difficult to chew.

@Slainte-Mhath thanks for the clarification on both issues. Particularly the jelly babies 👍

@WhiskeyLonghorn You cannot really compare this bottle to Naked Grouse, as 'blended at birth' is different from 'blended prior to bottling'. Also, this is a single cask at cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural color. Jelly babies are gummy bears, or the British version of it.

So this is essentially Naked Grouse, but with better casting and a higher proportion of MacAllan and HP? And it doesn’t suck? Also, what’s a jelly baby?

Additional comment: Some people might consider this Taiwanese bottling from 'The Whiskyfind' as highly collectible and never open it. However, whisky is made for drinking, and this bottle was a courtesy of my malt mate Anthony, so I will say 'Cheers to your good health!'

Additional information: A Blended Malt matured in sherry butt #59, resulting in 620 bottles at cask strength of 46.2% ABV. The label features 'Ti Girl' Mona Ho, bottled for Tiger Huang, Taiwan.