Leith Legacy 10yo
Blended Scotch Whisky| 46% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good Stuff.
TL;DR
£28. Engaging. Flavourful. Natural. That’s it.
Hey Presto.
“No Frills. No Taste. No Point in Buying it.” Those of you of a certain vintage will remember a budget supermarket chain called Kwik Save. They had all the usual branded wares, but they also had their own brand. called “No Frills.”
This moniker covered a load of things from fish fingers to cartons of salt and bottles of dish soap, but all the packaging was white with black bold letters: NO FRILLS. It was, as you can imagine, cheap stuff, but it was in the days when food banks were what you called the local chippie, and Oasis offered the soundtrack to the summer. Life was good. Optimistic.
You might recall me speaking of a time when I entertained the notion of Scouting through dosing pancakes with so many laxatives it rearranged the recipients insides? Well one of the main protagonists (who did scoff many of these incendiary patties) would shout, at the top of his lungs wherever he might stand, be that in the middle of the woods or in a store cupboard gathering ropes “No frills. No taste. No point in buying it!” It became his catchphrase.
It stuck with me, clearly, because the first thing I did when I saw this bottle was recall from deep storage memory banks, and shout reflexively, that catchphrase. Aloud. In a room with people who, upon hearing me say it, turned around and looked quizzically in my direction. It was the label that did it.
There’s an element of crap kicker about any label that is black and white. It’s the most basic of basic. A knackered old printer requiring a cable connection phased out during the Cuban Missile Crisis, that you rescued from a skip behind the local Co-Op, could produce it. Absolute rock-bottom of effort.
When the Thompson Brothers, famed for their really lovely labelling antics, released a blended malt whisky called 8yo Highland Blended Malt, a few likened the label to retro Tesco, a few to a butchers apron, but I immediately thought of the decrepit Presto supermarket inside Dunfermline’s Kingsgate Shopping Centre circa 1992.
It was a horrible place: breeze block walls and yellow buzzing fluorescent lights that sometimes burst overhead throwing the main drag into such harrowing relief, that you were convinced a knife would be thrust from a darkened corner. It was depressing knowing the last picture you’d ever see would be a miserable old bald man polishing burgundy brogues in Timpsons.
Presto was the precursor to Safeway, which ended up turning into Morrisons, but the branding of both Presto and Safeway was the same as Tesco - red and blue. It also brings back memories of those bins full of dry goods that you’d scoop out into a Tupperware that you carried empty on the bus, then cradled back home again lest it burst open and spill oats down the whirling double-decker stairs, to cheers from the local yobbos.
Kwik Save. Once so cutting edge it reduced the price of a full sized tin of beans to 5p in retaliation to them there ‘foreigners’ Aldi and Lidl, who Kwik Save felt had encroached on their budget patch. But I do remember getting some cracking “No Frills” peppermint bars in that place, much to the complaint of my young teeth. Halcyon days.
What saves the label on this Leith Whisky Legacy blended 10yo scotch whisky from looking absolutely rank is that it’s masterfully designed by the branding geniuses at Leith Distillery. It’s black print on white paper, but the wee motifs, the design flourishes, angled text and placement make this quite an attractive label - certainly frills in some quantity.
I really like it, but more than that I love that it was picked from a shelf full of colourfully labelled whisky by my crofter neighbour and fellow whisky exciter (same one I almost ruined Macallan for) as a nice wee gift for cooking them dinner, because he thought it looked quite cool.
He’s right. What’s cooler is that it’s incredible value at £28. Blended whisky though - unfounded bias klaxons sound! Get the guns at the ready, for we might need to put this one out of its misery. It’s 10 years old though, or as Leith put it - “the youngest component is 10 years of age.” That makes me think there’s some big-age grain in here, and the ex-sherry casks for maturation has my interest further bolstered.
In we go.
Review
Leith Legacy 10yo, Blended scotch whisky, 60% Grain, 40% Malt, 46% ABV
£28-30, plentifully everywhere.
Score: 6/10
Good Stuff.
TL;DR
£28. Engaging. Flavourful. Natural. That’s it.
Nose
Light, honey. Porridge oats. Grain characters, bit of glue, pva, bit of vanilla pod. Some cinnamon, cooking spices.
Palate
Sweet, spicy. Bit of kick. Honeyed. Bit nutty. Vanilla ice cream. Butterscotch. Nice and easy going. Some heat but complementary. Highland fudge.
The Dregs
This is, without sounding too excited, surprising. It’s sweet, and warming, and rich in vanilla, and a wee bit spiced, and a wee bit punchy, and a wee bit…bourbony. It reminded me immediately of Makers Mark, but a bit more developed, a bit more…scotchy. No soap notes to be found, It’s certainly not a stinker by any metric.
I feel like there’s surely some big age North British in here. I have been on a North British odyssey lately and it rings really close to that character, especially the honeyed oats and vanilla presence. The sweetness of aged grain, and the slight adhesive kicker that sounds boggin’ but is in reality very tasty.
I see this as a worthy calibrator. It’s much more engaging than Glenmorangie 10/12 for me. It’s effortlessly more engaging than most of the supermarket 40% mainliners, and at 46% naturally presented and non chill-filtered, hits every mark necessary to stick this firmly in the exciter bracket of whisky enjoyment.
What’s around right now to compare it with? The Thompson Brother’s SRV5 is all malt and on full bourbon attack, so not quite the same. The TB/BSW 8yo Batch 014 that I told my crofter pal was better than his 12yo Macallan but turned out to be hot and disappointing, also doesn’t fit this mould. It’s £5 dearer too.
There’s not much competing with this under £30 - Cutty Sark Prohibition maybe (not that I’ve tried it) or some Chez Bezos special deal aside, but something routinely under £30 with these stats?
Maclean’s Nose comes close, but that’s such a coastal, metallic, mineralic blend that, against this toffee apple sweetie, renders the Nose a bit edgy; a bit fizzy-water fresh. The Leith Legacy is runny caramel in comparison.
I can’t deny it, I’m really impressed with this. It’s great whisky to sit and stare away the evening watching clouds change colour and shape. It’s great whisky to sit and drink in company, and it’s great whisky to begin a longer session of heavier hitting drams. £28.
No frills, maybe, but great taste, and every point in buying it. Bravo Leith Whisky!
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DC
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