How Blended Scotch Whisky Is Made | Whisky Blending Process

Authors: Neil Ridley & Joel Harrison, Caskstrength Creative.

THE SCOTTISH DISTILLING SCENE IS ROOTED IN CENTURIES OF SMALL FARMHOUSE DISTILLERIES, EACH PLAYING A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT.

Each one once a key part of helping to turn the produce from the land into a potable, storable and consumable spirit, today known as single malt scotch whisky.

These small distilleries, taking barley from the land and turning in first into a rudimentary beer, then into a clear distillate know as uisge beatha, or the ‘water of life’, honed and shaped their own individual process, be it the length of time they fermented the beer, through to the individual shape and size of the copper pot stills, to give each whisky a unique, signature flavour profile.

As these distilleries developed, honing their skills and improving the flavour and style of the spirit, so each one became sough after, not just for their own personality, but for what they contributed to a blend, when a selection of different Scotch whisky flavour styles were brought together in a bottle.

This artistry, which draws on the craftsmanship of multiple distilleries and distillers, is the bedrock of the Scotch business, and is what sets it apart in the wider world of whisky. Each of the nearly 150 single malt distilleries scattered across Scotland, from the Islands to the Highlands, the Lowlands to Speyside, brings a clear and confident flavour profile with it. This rich palette is the key foundation on which a master blender draws to create a first-rate blended Scotch whisky.

These malts, all made and matured in Scotland from 100% malted barley, boast a dizzying array of flavours; from light and heathery tones, through to the bold, rich spices of fruity Christmas cake, as well as some that carry the aromatic notes of local peat smoke. They are also the foundations on which a blended whisky’s house style is built. For example, the Johnnie Walker brand is built around a core of smoky single malt, whereas Chivas Regal relies more on the floral and delicate notes from the Speyside and Highlands regions.

The selection of malt whiskies is tempered in a blended Scotch by sweet and creamy grain whisky, another style of Scotch that is made using alternatives to malted barley, such as corn or wheat. It is often said that if blended Scotch whisky were a painting, the grain whisky would be the canvas, and the malts the paint. Grain whisky’s lightness is the perfect counterbalance to Scotland’s rich tapestry of malt whisky.

Herein lies the challenge for any blender: combining these rare Scotch whiskies together, ensuring the personality of the single malts is neither lost, nor overpowering, and the sweet grain whisky does not quieten the overall blend, but provides the perfect foundation for the malts to sing.

In the case of ARDRAY, the master blenders from both Scotland and Japan are paying homage to the style of blended whisky in which the very category is rooted, and one that Japan’s first whisky pioneer and Suntory’s founder, Shinjiro Torii, was inspired by a century ago, bringing that passion for exquisite blended Scotch whisky full circle, drawing on the craft, refinement and meticulous devotion to blending ingrained in Suntory’s Japanese blenders over the last 100 years.

ARDRAY uses a core of single malts chosen from Beam Suntory distilleries of Laphroaig, Bowmore and Glen Garioch, but also from those distilled by their partners at The Edrington Group, owners of The Macallan, Glenrothes and Highland Park and shareholders in the lauded North British grain distillery. The result is a blend that is rich in malt whiskies, where most blends are built on a bigger foundation of grain whisky.

Perhaps the most challenging job for a blender however is recreating the complex layers of flavour time and again, with an ever changing palette of seasonal whiskies. This element is tackled full-on by the blenders of ARDRAY, understanding that each batch will be balanced slightly differently and so they are marking each bottle as such, to reflect the challenge of working with ever-changing base whiskies.

WORKING WITH A SELECTION OF SCOTLAND’S MALT AND GRAIN WHISKIES, THE VERY BEST BLENDS ARE THOSE THAT HAVE A HARMONY OF FLAVOURS; THOSE THAT CARRY A DISTINCT OVERALL FLAVOUR PROFILE, YET DRAWING ON A MULTITUDE OF WHISKIES SUPPORTIVE OF ONE ANOTHER. AND TO DO THIS TIME AND AGAIN, BATCH AFTER BATCH.

Authors: Neil Ridley & Joel Harrison, Caskstrength Creative.