Haig Gold Label Review

“Another One Bites The Dust”

Country: Scotland 

Brand: Haig Gold Label

Type: Blended Scotch Whisky

Age: NAS 

ABV: 40 %

Colour: Golden Amber (Artificially Coloured)

Nose: Despite the 40% Malt content, the Grain Whisky is quite present on the Nose. Haig Gold Label is both Sweet and Sour with Sugared Cereals, Toast and Margarine, Caramel, Brown Sugar, Refill Oak, Nut Shells, Mandarin Juice, Lemon Peel, Grass, Straw, Sour Apples, White Grapes, light Heather-Honey, Peanut Butter and distant hints of Burnt Tyres and Dried Apricot. The Alcohol is not fully integrated.    

Palate: Sugary Sweet and Watery with Sugared Cereals, Caramel, Toffee, very light Vanilla, Nut Shells, Refill Oak, light Citrus, Grass, Straw and hints of Thin Coconut Milk and Cold Smoke.  

Finish: Short, Bitter-Sweet, Edgy and Sharp with Sugared Cereals, Caramel, Toffee, Straw, Nut Shells, Lemon, Refill Oak, Grain Alcohol, Pepper and distant Cold Smoke. There's something Artificial about the Finish that I can't quite place.

Haig Gold Label does not accept Water very well. Everything just gets watered down.

Rating: 73

Nose: 19 - Taste: 18 - Finish: 17,5 - Overall: 18.5

General Remarks: Haig Whisky is one of the oldest whiskies in the world and was first distilled by John Haig in 1824 in Cameronbridge in Scotland. It was very popular until some 40 years ago when it left the Haig Family Ownership. After exchanging hands a couple of times it is nowadays owned by Diageo and the brand name is gaining popularity again with the Gold, Dimple and Pinch Blends as well as the Haig Club Single Grain. Haig Gold is made of some 30-40 whiskies and contains 40% Malt a/o from Linkwood, Glenkinchie, Cragganmore, Knockdhu, Mannochmore and Glenlossie. The Malt whiskies used for Haig Gold matured in Refill Ex-Bourbon casks from Kentucky. It's reasonably cheap and usually priced in the 25 to 30 US Dollars range.    

Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average.

Conclusion: Whisky is very expensive these days and unfortunately many people can't afford to drink good Single Malts on a regular basis. So they are either forced to drink Bottom Shelf Blends like this Haig Gold Label or will consider Bourbon or other Alcoholic Beverages like Vodka or Gin. To me, Bourbon is still the best option. The main reason is the wood used to mature Whiskies that go into blends like Haig Gold. We know that over 70% of the taste of Whisky comes from the cask. And Refill casks that have been used many times simply don't have much interesting Aromas and Flavours left to give to the Spirit. As a result Haig Gold Label and many of its peers are simply not good enough to sip neat. It doesn't give you any pleasure. On the Rocks or Mixed are the alternatives. I have tasted many standard Scottish Blends in the meantime but I always come back to JW Black as it has the best Price/Quality ratio as far as I'm concerned.

Jan van den Ende                                                                    March 28, 2016

Glenkinchie