Blended Malt Scotch Whisky | 44.5% ABV

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Bright, juicy and delicious. Impressive for the price*

Every Little Helps

Thompson Brothers have been making a mark on the whisky scene for a few years now, with well priced and top quality independent bottlings which, due to those two factors and some snazzy labels, can be hard to get hold of.

From my perspective here in the UK, it has become a little easier to get your hands on them in the past year or so, as long as you aren’t looking for their Dornoch single malt, which is still reliant on a ballot system such is the demand. Sending or socially sharing proof that you have opened previous purchases increases your chances in those ballots, which is a nice touch to encourage people to enjoy their whisky rather than hoarding it.

Once Dornoch South gets off the ground, we will hopefully be able to buy Phil and Simon’s own creations without such systems being necessary, but that will be some time away yet. Despite the scarce availability of Dornoch single malt, it sneaks into the Dramface top 40 in position 37 at time of writing. The quality of their independent releases may be a factor there too.

As an antidote to the demands for their products, and in order to give us something that is both affordable and more accessible than their single cask offerings, they released the SRV5 blended malt and TB/BSW blended whisky. Both priced around £35 - £38, both tasty whiskies well worth investing in and, in the UK market at least, readily available.

Now we have a new bottling aiming to do a very similar thing. The price is in the same ballpark at £35, it’s another blended malt and, like the SRV5, it carries an eight year age statement. The witty Tesco value inspired labelling is another indicator that this is designed to be a whisky for the budget-conscious drinker. Hopefully it’s better than the Whiskybase scores and comments suggest Tesco’s original ‘Value’ blended whisky is.

There can’t be many lower scores in the database than that one. I’ve noticed some kick back online from people who dislike the way the Brothers have branded this, and there is little doubt if they had put a more artistic label on the bottle they would likely sell more bottles, but personally I love that tongue-in-cheek nod to supermarket value blends, and it’s what’s in the bottle that matters after all.

Just like they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is value. A £100 whisky can represent excellent value, just as an under £20 bottle can be a poor choice. As you can see from the Whiskybase score for that Tesco value blend, it was made to a price point that resulted in it being a pretty poor excuse for a whisky.

There’s lots of that on the supermarket shelves from other brands too and I’ve bought a number of bottles over the years that appeared to be worth a punt based on the price point, but linger at the back of the shelves as a reminder of my poor choices. A Lidl Abrachan blended malt and Aldi Highland Black blend have both sat unloved for a number of years now. I’ve learnt to buy better, but recently I got sucked back in by a £19 peated highland single malt from Aldi, which I may well review. Maybe it’s not that bad. We shall see.

The ABV chosen for this release is intriguing. Everything I ever recall seeing from them has been 46% or higher, but this comes in at a slightly lower 44.5%. This draws parallels with Murray McDavid and their cask craft range, which is the exact same ABV and also around the £30-40 mark - I must admit that the lower ABV and the lack of a non-chill filtered statement like they have on their higher ABV releases means I haven’t picked up any of those bottles. It would have sold much more easily with us enthusiasts had they have done so in my opinion.

I could be missing out and the price point is low, but when we’re buying whisky blind and there’s millions of whisky to choose from, we can afford to be picky. I’ve been burnt too many times and I know to be wary.

I don’t know for certain that Murray McDavid are chill filtering that product. But if they don’t state it on the label, or until we hear otherwise, we have to assume they are. This is where the Thompson Brothers bottle is different. Although the ABV is the same, they do state on the label that it is non-chill filtered, so we can breathe a sigh of relief.

Review 1/2 - Ramsay

Thompson Brothers 8yo North Highland, Blended malt scotch whisky, 44.5% ABV
£35 and available at time of writing (UK market)

The make-up of this North Highland blended malt is very interesting, with one very high profile distillery, which apart from Diageo’s well priced (for now) 14 year old is usually very expensive when we see it from independents – Clynelish. This is a blend of that distillery and Glen Ord in almost 50/50 proportions.

Clynelish 8/02/16 Refill Hhd – 37.0%
Glen Ord 12/04/16 Refill Hhd – 36.1%
Clynelish 8/02/16 Refill Hhd – 12.3%
Glen Ord 12/04/16 Refill Hhd – 12.3%
Clynelish 12/01/15 Cask Nolia PX – 2.4%

“All smashed together in a refill sherry butt for a resting period of more than a day but less than a year.”

Nose

Bright and fresh, with crisp apples, sharp acidic cider vinegar, stone fruits, white wine and furniture polish. There’s a dry pebble earthiness to it as well, along with honey, milk chocolate, yeasty bread and a suggestion of new trainers when you first open the box.

Palate

A light, fruity dram with a nice balance of sweet, sour and bitter sensations. There’s juicy eating apples and bitter citrus seville orange, with lots of vanilla to compliment those fruity notes and a pleasant prickly ginger ale fizz across the tongue. Next I get charred oak which also brings some chocolate. The finish is green apple skins, light drying oak, vanilla and hazelnut.

The Dregs

Fresh, light and fruity whisky, which is one of my favourite styles. This is a perfect summer sip that might not be the best whisky in your collection, but you will struggle to find any better that has an RRP of £35. If you’re a fan of Loch Lomond 12 Inchmurrin, Glencadam 10 or Balblair 12, then I suggest this will be right up your street.

They mention a resting period in a refill sherry butt of between a day and a year, as well as a small percentage of the Clynelish from a PX cask, which I think is bringing in those chocolate notes, but it’s the bourbon casks that are making the biggest impression with those bright, fruity notes and vanilla. This one was kindly gifted via Wally for the purposes of this review, but there is little doubt that I will be replacing this bottle with my own money for as long as it’s available. I’m hoping the plan will be to bring out subsequent batches once this one has sold out.

In my view it doesn’t lose much at all, if anything, for being reduced down to 44.5% and if that has helped to keep the price point where it is then that’s fine. After all, every little helps.

Score: 7/10 RT

Review 2/2 - Wally

Thompson Brothers 8yo North Highland, Blended malt scotch whisky, 44.5% ABV
£35 and available at time of writing (UK market)

I think I get this whisky. But it’s a satirical pun, and layered.

Anyway, it turns out Simon and Phil are readers of Dramface and they reached out to offer us a free bottle. I sent them Ramsay’s address, hopeful that I’d easily get a bottle myself. I was right. I did.

Last week, upon entering my local merchant of fine spirits, I instantly spotted its garishness on the shelf; blasting over everything else like an air raid siren. I was reminded of Glenmorangie’s shouty new 10yo branding, and the similarities don’t stop there.

Many years ago, when I had even less of a clue than I do today, my distant Sassenach brother and I often enjoyed ‘a whisky’ together. When these occasions happened, we measured by the bottle and we used our whiskies to catch up at breakneck speeds. We’d tear through whatever was on the shelf when he came to visit, without judgement or care.

I wasn’t a geek, I knew what a malt was versus a blend, but I couldn’t have reliably told you where distilleries were located and I cared little about chill-filtration or lyne arms. All the whisky in the house was from a supermarket; that specialists even existed was lost on me. But, whisky was teaching and, without knowing, I was an incidental student learning to love flavour.

He brought a pal up for an event, I really don’t remember what, and they stopped over for a night. Everyone - including yours truly - thought whisky was all a bit pretentious. All those aromas and tastes and water-by-the-drop, I mean - what was that about? We guffawed at the dafties with the pipettes and the notebooks. Then, with tumblers in hand and faces full of Glenmorangie 10 year old, someone blurted “pineapple!”.

We paused and sniffed. Well…

As we all looked at each other with wide eyes of agreement, pineapples were clearly in our glasses. Then my brother proffered that, a moment earlier, he was reminded of Lee’s Snowballs, but didn’t want to mention. These danger-snacks are bitesize Scottish nirvana; a legal drug sold everywhere. They’re thin chocolate shells disguised with desiccated coconut, further concealing a creamy fondant filling of pure sugary ambrosia. Their shells break with the lightest of pressure, releasing an intense flow of ephemeral, eye-rolling, super-sweet, vanilla-creme bliss. If they were permitted in our house I’d be dead.

Once more, we all cooed. It was true.

With a punchline and a dismissive wave of hands we soon moved on to another cheap and cheerful supermarket special, probably Macallan 10 or Lagavulin 16, and forgot about our silliness. But, from that evening hence, I began to dampen my critique of people voicing their flavour discoveries in a glass of whisky. I immediately started to develop the muscle memory that is sniffing a dram a few times before sipping it. To the point that I seem to mindlessly do it with tea, water or whatever. Still, I’m very grateful to that glass of Glenmorangie and I love the 10yo to this day.

Supermarket whiskies are still a thing. Yet, perhaps with the exception of Glenmo’s 10yo, what once was common and affordable are all pale imitations of their former selves - or missing altogether. Happily, other things have come along to keep things from becoming too flat, crap or naff. Think Tomatin’s Legacy or Willie Grant’s Monkey Shoulder. Say what you like, on flavour and engagement they often trounce the stuff proffered by established brands - with or without age statements.

However, what we have in the glass today is none of those things.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Danger whisky; dangerously drinkable and dangerously essential*

Nose

Pineapple cubes, tinned mandarin, set honey, buttered toast, Pritt Stick, orange blossom, mint Tic Tacs, hairspray and coconut. An emptied glass offers up a ton of white candlewax.

Palate

What it lacks in viscosity it makes up for in vigour. Bright vanillins and sweet crunchy apples, sherbert, creamy fondant, pina colada mix, hayloft, Softmints and soda water.

The Dregs

There's nothing wrong with being able to buy whisky in supermarkets, but own-brand supermarket whisky is, in my experience, a disaster. Especially if it’s a white-label, generic cheapest-we-could-make-it brand. Nothing says “this’ll get you drunk with a vague flavour of whisky” more than the example Ramsay has shared above. There are other horrendously low scores on Whiskybase, but that one’s a perfect example of what the SWA are missing when it comes to protection of a category.

If I’m honest, I’ve not tried it - I almost want to - but it shouldn’t exist. If that is the kind of whisky that appeals to you, there are other categories of booze that will cart you to where you want to be. I know it’s a blend, but whisky - and especially flavour-packing, texture-wielding malt - is an alcohol that is intrinsically more expensive to make, with enough impact to positively change life trajectories. The elitist snob in me thinks it’s dangerous to rush, dilute or cheapen it.

Anyway, Tesco are not alone in attempting it. In fact, I think it would be very cool indeed if the brothers Thompson picked a different supermarket white-label range to poke fun at each year, releasing another tongue-in-cheek pop at cheapened whisky made to a price point. They’d become an interesting range of ironic collectibles. Perhaps each would be as hideous to the eye as this one.

By all means make it as aggressively priced as possible, but don’t compromise. Make it for drinking - but also for contemplation and flavour. Help us to slow down. Draw a line and don’t cross it. Make the pleasure in the consumption, not the effect. The Thompson Brothers have managed it at £35. I’ll argue that to forcefully do it cheaper, using malt whisky, is to actively try to fail.

Everything about this wee bottle, apart from its eye-torturing, butcher’s apron costume, reminds me of the bright, summery pleasure of that Glenmorangie 10yo back in the day, when £25 on a bottle of booze was frivolous. It is not particularly viscous or textured, it isn’t super-detailed and it isn’t a pure flavour-bomb. But it does retain texture, it does have detail and it has a bag of flavour, for those who care.

They’ve bolstered their good-whisky-needn’t-be-expensive lineup with this, it takes its place alongside the beguiling SRV5 and the one-day-we’ll-cry-over-its-departure TB/BSW. It’s also somewhat dangerously easy to drink. And, in today’s climate of good whisky becoming increasingly just for the fiscally mobile, it is dangerously needed.

I had an entire piece in my mind built around Tesco’s slogan of “Every Little Helps”, but the crafty Ramsay nicked that one. Fair play. Let’s go with Sainsbury’s instead; Live Well for Less.

Score: 7/10 WMc

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. RT

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