Buchanan's De Luxe 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Buchanan’s De Luxe

Bottled by James Buchanan & Company

Type: Blended Whisky

Age: 12 Years

Alcohol: 40%

Colour: Light Golden (Artificially Coloured)

Nose: Toasted Cereals, Grain Alcohol, Toffee, Caramel, Vanilla, Toast, Toasted Oak, Straw, Grass, Heather-Honey, Cocoa Powder, Salted Almonds, Citrus Peel, Ginger and the faintest hint of Smoke. 

Taste: Thin and slightly Watery Delivery. Quite Sweet with Toasted Cereals, light Vanilla, Caramel, Toffee, Orange-Peel, Green Apple, Straw, Grass, Cocoa Powder, Sugared Tea, Pepper, Salt, Ginger and hints of Tobacco and Smoke. 

Finish: On the short side. Sugary Sweet at first but Dry towards the end with Toasted Cereals, slightly Bitter Nutshells, Toasted Refill Oak, Heather-Honey, Black Pepper, Salt, Caramel, Mandarin, Cocoa Powder and hints of Tobacco and Smoke from a distant fire.

When adding a few drops of Water you get some Fruit on the nose. Think of Pear and Apricots. Bit of Lemon as well and some extra Honey. On the Palate it almost becomes Ice Tea Lemon. The Finish gets more Sugary. You can certainly experiment with a few drops. The Nose opens up quite a bit and the Ice Tea Lemon feeling on the Palate is remarkable.

Rating: 79 

Nose: 20,5 – Taste: 20 – Finish: 19 – Overall: 19,5

General Remarks:

I can’t tell you a lot about this Blend I’m afraid. It was created in 1884 by one James Buchanan in London. Today, the company belongs to the Diageo Group. At the heart of this Blend lays the Dalwhinnie Distillery (Highlands). It is Scotland’s highest Distillery. Only 10% of its production is sold as Single Malt. The rest goes into Blends like Buchanan’s and Black & White. Buchanan's 12 Years its very popular in South America.

Drinking Experience Neat: Average/Okay

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Good

Conclusion: It’s not an expensive Blend at US$ 30/35. But it’s yet another of those Blends of which 13 are found in a dozen. There’s no real character, no adventure, no challenge. It’s sugary and a bit boring. And it doesn’t inspire me to write more about it.

Jan van den Ende                                    March 8, 2012 and August 16,2017