Ardray Blended Scotch
2023 Release - Blended Scotch Whisky | 48% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Actually pretty good whisky, if a little ironic
Do you Need To Know To Sell?
How much does one have to know in order to work as a salesperson? The anecdote shared below might seem like a critique of their profession; but I wish to say, just like all salespeople, I have nothing but respect for them.
Recently, the McAtear couple went on a short hop to Singapore for a few days just for a change of scenery. Somehow we have gradually taken on the role of hosting family and friends in Hong Kong during the festivities and, with Chinese New Year landing rather close to Christmas, a short break in between was much needed.
We were in Singapore to do two things: visit the tourist destinations and eat authentic South East Asian food. If I had to recommend one dish, it would be bak kut teh, which is basically pork ribs cooked in a pepper soup broth. They make them slightly differently in Malaysia and Singapore, but both are worth trying if you happen to visit the area. They simply don’t come as good in other parts of the world; the same quality is definitely not found in Hong Kong.
From theme parks to casinos, down to hawkers and street food, Singapore was definitely a lot more affordable than I expected. Having spoken to a few friends, this may be a result of Hong Kong’s cost of living having remained quite high despite the global economic downturn. I think I have an inkling to why that is, but I will leave such topics to the economists.
On our way back, of course, I had to look at the travel retail exclusives at Singapore’s Changi Airport. Whether I get something or not is not the point, but simply meandering between shelves and shelves of whisky is part of the fun.
A lot of brands have become mainstays at airports. Among the blends you’ll find Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal, etc. and to represent single malts there were Glen Grant, Bowmore, Highland Park, just to name a few. Singapore being the international cosmopolitan city-state that it is, its airport has quite a respectable collection of whiskies and among them I spotted some that were mentioned or reviewed among these pages; including the Classic Laddie Sherry Cask, the Talisker Surge the Fettercairn 14, and others.
As I walked from the Balvenies to the Taliskers, to the Dalmores, to the Glenfiddichs, and many more; somehow I found my way back to the Balvenies again. I was paralysed by choice, or lack thereof, or somewhere in between. There were interesting whiskies on display, but nothing really spoke to me. Until something did. Not a whisky though, but the saleswoman.
To me, a good sales person carries a friendly and calming presence. They make you feel like your current needs and desires are being cared for and they are there to find a solution for you. For me, at that moment, my desire was to pick a bottle of whisky and the saleswoman was very helpful. First, the generic question: “Are you looking for something?”. No, I'm just looking around. “Are you looking for something smoky?”. Not really, but I’m not against it either. And so the conversation went, and I noticed a rather interesting dynamic: while she was trying to narrow things down, I was trying to keep my options open, especially when she tried to nudge me towards the Dalmores and Glenfiddichs.
Now here’s the part where I start to think, how knowledgeable does an airport whisky salesperson have to be? Certainly they’re not expected to be at the same level as those at specialist shops, but I was led to feel that this particular saleswoman knows her way around a bottle of whisky. Let me give a few examples and you can come to your own conclusions as to whether she’s actually knowledgeable or just going through a loose decision tree while reciting from a script.
“Do you mind blends?” she asked as we walked past a shelf of Chivas Brothers products. “If you don’t mind blends, have a look at this Ballantines 30. It’s usually quite expensive, but it’s currently on a discount so I think it’s a pretty good deal”. So she speaks as if she knows the difference between blends and malts as well.
As we continue to walk through the collections, she paused while staring down at a particular bottle and she said “This is Glen Scotia from Campbeltown; not everybody likes it, but if you want something different you might want to consider this”. Then she pointed to the bottle next to it, “Or you can consider Loch Lomond; they are owned by the same company”. That took me by surprise. She had the knowledge that Glen Scotia isn’t the average whisky one would buy from the airport and then smoothly transitioned to talk about distillery ownership.
“This Glenlivet is interesting. Unlike standard Glenlivet, it is finished in red wine casks which is rare in whisky.” She picks the bottle up and turns it to its side and points at the liquid. “Look at how dark it is. The red wine casks give the whisky a lot of fruity flavours; however, it doesn’t say what age”. I’ll give her a break for talking about colour in Scotch as we all know that they can be deceiving; but she also took note of the rarity of red wine casks in whisky, as well as the lack of an age statement.
Now, it’s up to you to decide whether she’s actually knowledgeable about whisky or an excellent saleswoman. After carefully going through the language that she’s elected to use, I think I have come to my own conclusion.
Nonetheless, she was successful in this instance because she did sell me a bottle…
Review
Ardray 2023, Blended Scotch Whisky, Beam Suntory, 48% ABV
(SGD100 paid ~£60) and wide availability
One thing led to another and suddenly she asked if I would like to try some. I agreed; so she disappeared behind a hidden door and reappeared with two bottles - a 14 year old Bowmore and the bottle of today’s review, an Ardray Blended Scotch Whisky.
I didn’t expect much from the Bowmore and it didn’t deliver much, so I’m not going to dwell on that.
The first time I came across the Ardray was from this video, shared among the Dramface writers chat around half a year ago. Well put together blends haven’t been something new and “the year of the blends” had been supposedly coming for several years. Yet, with a few exceptions, we still haven’t seen many blends commanding the attention of malt enthusiasts. Upon watching this video my first instinct was that the blends bandwagon has obviously taken off and Suntory are just desperately trying to hop on.
Looking at Suntory’s Scotch portfolio, I really have no reason to have high hopes of any kind. Most of their officially released single malts are coloured and chill filtered; one of which recently received a disparagingly low score on Dramface. If I were to guess; this Ardray would be bottled at 40%, with no extra information, leaving us to believe that it’s both chill filtered and coloured. It’s also probably going to be rather young.
A sniff of this from a small plastic cup and my assumptions seem to be off. Another look at the bottle, “natural colour” and “non chill filtered” in small print - giving me even more hope, and it’s bottled at 48%. All the ‘good whisky’ indicator boxes are ticked.
Now, as is often said, the whisky only needs to be good.
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Actually pretty good whisky, if a little ironic
Nose
Lightly to moderately smoky and pretty briny, more ashy than medicinal, bright and malty, white pepper, hints of vanilla and melons, alongside a citrus zesty zing. Some minutes in the glass and I even detect hazelnuts and bananas. A teaspoon of water in the glass and I can nose this all day.
Palate
Light mouthfeel but a rather crisp arrival. Sweet and floral peat, more medicinal on the palate than on the nose, but quite vegetal as well. Melons and hazelnuts from the nose come back on the development. A nice peppery note spices things up, along with a honey overcoat, bright lemons and bitter grapefruits, bitter gourd and oaky vanilla. I’m trying to organise these notes, but they seem to come at me randomly in all directions. The finish is medium in length, left behind is a soothing, smoky, vanilla and honey. Fairly complex palate, but the presentation of the component notes is quite different from a typical whisky.
The Dregs
First of all, let me point out that I didn’t get any hints of grain, despite it being a blended Scotch and not a blended malt. Looking at the Suntory distilleries, it’s not hard to pick out peated styles that could originate from their peated distilleries: floral Bowmore, medicinal Laphroaig, lemony Ardmore, and it’s as if they might all contribute to the experience. There’s also a suggestion that they’ve leant on stocks from their ‘partner’ Edrington, so we may also have Highland Park, Macallan or Glenrothes involved in the mix, as well as the other Beam distilleries such as Glen Garioch and Auchentoshan.
As I’ve touched on in the tasting notes, flavours come to me in all directions and at first this came across as disjointed, but a few drams in my opinion has changed. This is a shape-shifter; depending on circumstances - like what I’ve eaten beforehand, what time of the day I’m sipping, or even what mood I’m in - different notes shout at me louder than others.
Credit where credit is due. Suntory created a good whisky here. £60 is a bit steep, but at the same price point it’s better than most of its own single malts, which I find a bit ironic.
I hope this whisky does well commercially, which would hopefully send signals higher up to those in charge and let them know that naturally presented whisky is a sustainable path for commercially successful whisky.
However; the price point - for an unknown blended scotch - may hold it back. Indeed, we didn’t see a ‘2024 Release’.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. MMc
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