Logan Heritage Review

“Never Judge a Whisky By the Cover”

Country: Scotland

Brand: Logan Heritage
Bottled by: White Horse Distillers, Edinburgh (Diageo)

Type: Blended Whisky
Age: NAS (Said To Be Around 8 Years)

ABV: 40% 
Chill-Filtration: Yes 
Whisky Review # 590
Buying Advice: 😐  Neutral. Not Good enough to sip neat. Okay over Ice. 

Colour: Light Amber (Artificially Coloured)

Nose: Young, Light and mainly Sweet. The Alcohol is quite noticeable and so are the Refill Ex-Bourbon casks. The dark colour of this Blend suggests a decent portion of Caramel colouring. I also detect a very faint Peat Smoke but it's clear that the Lagavulin part in this Blend is very limited. In addition, I find Toasted Cereals, Buttered Toast, Toffee, Caramel, light Vanilla, light Heather-Honey, Salted Nuts, Dried Fruits, Cooked Vegetables, Green Apple and hints of Ginger, Cinnamon and Leather. There are no real off-notes but the Grain Alcohol tends to dominate the relatively weak Malt Aromas.     
      

Palate: Young, Light and quite Sweet. The delivery is on the Thin side. I find Toasted Cereals, Caramel, Sugar, light Vanilla, Grain Alcohol, very Light Smoke, Refill Wood, Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Licorice, Green Apples and Light Honey. On the Palate it's clear that the Heritage Blend does not have the same quality as the discontinued Logan 12 Years that I reviewed earlier.

Finish: Short and Sweet with Toasted Cereals, Refill Wood, Grain Alcohol, Sugar, Licorice, Nut Shells, Pepper, Ginger and slightly Sour Green Apples. A whiff of Smoke. Medium-Dry towards the end. 

I added a little Water and on the Nose some Floral Soap Aromas develop. Palate and Finish become too Thin. 

Rating: 78  

Nose: 20 - Taste: 19.5 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 19.5

General Remarks:

The Logan Blend was first introduced in 1903 and was named after James Logan, a one time Scotch Whisky blender. The Logan Heritage was launched in 2014 in Portugal by Master Blender Caroline Martin to celebrate the 111th Birthday of the Brand Name. At the same time it replaced the Logan 12 Years Old Blend. Logan is said to use 24 Grain- and Malt Whiskies for this Blend including Lagavulin (Islay) and Glen Elgin and Craigellachie (Speyside). The Heritage Blend is not very expensive and usually sells in the 20-30 US Dollar range (January 2017).

Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Okay

Conclusion: It's a real pity that Diageo discontinued the Logan 12 Years as it was a simple but quite enjoyable, highly drinkable and sufficiently matured Blend at a reasonable price. That's why it had to go of course. It has now been replaced by the Heritage, a NAS Blend that can't stand in the shadow of its former big brother. Despite the Classy, though Old-Fashioned presentation and bottle, the Heritage is in fact a relatively cheap Bottom Shelf Blend. There is nothing interesting going on and it's not suited to sip neat. Over Ice this Blend is okay though nothing special. The 12 Years will be sorely missed!

Jan van den Ende                                                                 January 19, 2017

Glen Elgin