Month: May 2019

Whisky #553: Blend 285 Thai Whisky

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Blend 285 Thai Whisky. Bangkok, Thailand. ABV: 35%. Tasted poolside at the Hyatt Regency Phuket, ฿140 (approx. $6.25AUD) from a 7-Eleven for a 345mL bottle.

Whisky a Day is on tour in Thailand for a short holiday, so it behooves me to try some of the local whisky. There isn’t much of a selection of genuine whisky, with many of the spirits being marketed as Thai “whisky” originating from molasses rather than grain (making them more like spiced rums).

Blend 285 Thai Whisky though is from the Red Bull Distillery (1988) Co., Ltd in Bangkok. It claims to be made through some “traditional blended Scotch whisky process”…presumably right up to the point where they’ve used spirit from outside of Scotland! According to their website, Blend 285 is a blend of malt whiskies from Scotland and “grain spirits”…origin unknown, but presumably distilled and/or bottled at the Red Bull Distillery here in Thailand. Another website described the blend also having “quality neutral spirits”.

Hmmm, initial impressions are not overly positive, but let’s not judge a leopard by its spotted cover. Brace yourself…there’s cheap Thai whisky to be tasted!

Colour: Bright amber.

Nose: Some pungent chemically alcohol fumes initially, slowly dissipating after a few minutes in the glass but always there. Underneath that layer there are some faint sawdust and freshly baked bread notes. Even after a while I find myself holding my breath a little as I take each sip.

Palate: Thin watery mouthfeel, a light honeyed notes that fade quickly to toasted cereals, woody flavours and tobacco leaves. Like chewing on an unlit cigar.

Finish: Somewhere halfway between salty and sour. Oak is the dominant flavour, medium length.

Comments: Blend 285 is best summed up by the classic quote from Blackadder – “it started badly, it tailed off a little in the middle and the less said about the end the better — but apart from that it was excellent.”

You can’t expect too much from a bottle picked up at a 7-Eleven store for only ฿140, but sadly it falls into the Whisky a Day “truly awful” category. The stunning sunset where I’m drinking it is the only redeeming feature of this dram.

At 35% ABV, some purists would argue that it isn’t really whisky given it has been bottled below 40%. In a hot climate like Thailand though it feels ok if you’re drinking it neat; however I’d recommend grabbing a beer instead if you want refreshment on a hot and humid day.

If it’s whisky you’re after, I suggest lashing out a bit more and picking up something from a more recognised whisky producer.

Whisky #552: White Walker By Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky

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White Walker By Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky. Scotland. ABV: 41.7%. Tasted in a very non-wintery locale poolside in the sweltering heat of Phuket, ฿1700 (approx. $75AUD) for a 750mL bottle.

Winter is here…

Coinciding with the final season of the wildly popular Game of Thrones TV show comes this unashamed marketing claptrap from Johnnie Walker and Diageo. But how does it stand up as a whisky?

Yet again the burden falls upon Whisky a Day’s shoulders to step forth beyond the wall, taste another whisky and pass on my musings. In the words of Tyrion Lannister, “that’s what I do – I drink and I know things”.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Soft lemon sponge cake and creamed honey.

Palate: Grassy hay-like notes bouncing off melted butter and soft caramel flavours. Honey and black pepper. A surprisingly fuller body than other Johnnie Walker whiskies or other blended whiskies.

Finish: A pleasing but unusually long finish for your average Johnnie Walker. A sweet, creamy and oaky tang lingers, like you’ve been sucking on the stick of a banana flavoured Paddle Pop ice cream for just a bit too long.

Comments: A clever play on words as a marketing gimmick to capitalise on the Game of Thrones phenomenon? Absolutely. As a whisky though? Surprisingly decent and much bolder in flavour and body than your typical Johnnie Walkers.

The label declares the heart of the White Walker to be single malts from Cardhu and Clynelish. Without knowing the rest of the vatting, I suspect that there might be a lower proportion of grain whisky that’s gone into this blend as it has plenty of oomph flavour-wise, especially at only 41.7% ABV.

When so many other whiskies proudly proclaim to be non-chill filtered, some might say it’s a bold move for a whisky to declare on the back of the bottle that not only is it chill filtered, but “best served cold directly from the freezer”. It’s like the marketing department at Diageo have decided “bugger it, no use hiding the fact our juice is chill filtered, so given the White Walker connotations let’s really own that label!”

The label on the bottle even reveals the surprise text “WINTER IS HERE” when the bottle is put in the freezer.

With the White Walker, there’s no “red wedding” sense of betrayal at a behemoth of a commercial brand like Johnnie Walker having sold out and compromised their product by slapping a Game of Thrones marketing badge on the bottle. It’s a genuinely decent drop, though for flavour reasons I preferred to drink mine at room temperature.