Turntable X Starward Blended Whisky No.1
Origin: Scotland & Australia / 46% / Price: ca. 80€
All of our readers who, like myself, have already gained in-depth experience of whisky, perhaps more than 2-3 years, will remember the big debate about Compass Box and the reprimand from the SWA (Scotch Whisky Association) at the time. There was a lot of misinformation going around at the time about what could actually be revealed about the contents of a Blended Scotch. As you can see here as an example and why I came up with this small anecdote: Just don't include the age and it will be alright! Exact percentages and even cask selection, as well as the distilleries (as long as permission has been given, of course) are allowed.
There was of course a lot of heated talks among nerds at the time, accusing the SWA of certainly wanting to keep secrets from consumers. But the whole thing has no sinister background at all, it has its origins in EU regulations, which are in complete contrast intended to protect citizens from misinformation. No other age than the youngest (!) may be stated on the bottle for any aged and bottled spirit whose components are of different ages. Again, think this time of the rum issue, the solera method, only mentioning the oldest part, yada yada yada. So if you try to be completely transparent with blends, you are theoretically breaking the rule with its very general specification, because you also state the other years of maturing the spirits, even if the aim is the opposite of deception. In the case of the bottle here, the aim is to be as open as possible. Of course, this could all be improved by changing/adding just 2-3 sentences, but EU regulations are not exactly known for their spontaneity...
But let's get to today's bottling: The Turntable x Starward Collaboration Drop 01 is a blended whisky (so we already know there's more than just Scottish stuff and more than just malted barley in it!), which is a collaboration between the still very young and hip Turntable Blending House and the Australian Starward distillery. I would like to mention this very briefly: Yes, there are now quite a few whiskies with a modern design language on the market. But Turntable really is one of the best examples of how to do it right. Be it this one or other bottlings with pure Scotch in their ranks, wonderfully designed, elegant, modern, but not too overdone.
The master blenders used Starward single malt matured in red wine casks, smoky Caol Ila single malt, grain whisky from the North British distillery and some Inchgower single malt, which brings in a nice backbone with malt and lighter notes.
Due to its typical blend (apart from the red wine cask and Australia of course, more related to the structure) with only a slightly smoky component, it can theoretically also be used perfectly in drinks that call for “blended scotch”. Although they often use bottlings with a smokier component (think of JW Black Label), this does not detract from the experience or potential use. Our bottling here counters this all the more easily with more complexity and depth. This gives some of the drinks a special spin; for example, it works extremely well in a Modern Classic, the Rapscallion, which was recently added to our cocktail library.
Of course, cocktails that really let the whisky shine through are generally preferable in this price range. Accordingly, an Old Fashioned immediately springs to mind, where you can play with the winey notes of the casks and, for example, add the sweetness via 2 bar spoons of Tawny Port instead of the sugar syrup (or even more appropriately, homemade red wine syrup) and then refine and round off with the bitters of your choice (cranberry or cherry bitters would also be very exciting here). We will be publishing 1-2 examples of OF-like drinks that work well with whisky on LT over the next few weeks.
Tasting Notes
Nose:
The combination is quite interesting, on the one hand you have a subtle smokiness, but still quite a level under even light Islays, which makes sense, since Caol Ila is already one of the lightest Islay and only occurs here in a small part, crispy toast, as well as certain fresh berry sweetness, strawberries, cranberries, flamed coconut flakes, malt
Taste:
There is noticeably more Islay here than in the nose, some seaweed, nice saltiness, again the hearty toasted bread, malt, a few young, tart berries, currants and cranberries, as well as young strawberries, tobacco and noticeable oak, as well as flambéed coconut
Finish:
Oaky, tobacco-heavy, dried algae, a hint of ash, malt, hearty-dry and salty
The bottle was supplied by KIRSCH Import, thanks!
