Showing posts with label Burn Brae Blenders Limited. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Burn Brae Blenders Limited. Show all posts

King Edward I Blended Scotch Whisky Review



Country: Scotland 
Brand: King Edward I 
Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
Age: NAS 
ABV: 40 %
Date: 25/03/2013

Colour: Dark Reddish Amber. It's one of the darkest whiskies I've tasted so far.

Nose: Not unpleasant but a bit Musty, slightly Metallic and Inexpressive. Cereals, Oak, Demerara Sugar, chopped Walnuts and Dried Fruits like Apple, Apricot, Currants and Raisins are the main components. I also get hints of Old Leather Upholstery, Honey, Sherry, Heather and other Floral - and Earthy Tones. I wouldn't be surprised if this Blend would contain some Central Highland - and Speyside Malts and perhaps a sprinkle of Islay. Good balance between Malt and Grain. 

Palate: Quite Thin with Grain, Malt, Orange and Lemon Peel, Earth, Pepper, Nutmeg and Cloves. Not much of interest going on here.

Finish: Middle-Long with some Fruit, Licorice, slightly Bitter Oak, Honey and light Spices like Pepper, Ginger and Nutmeg.

With some Water, the Fruity tones on the Nose become clearer and the Grains withdraw a bit. The Palate and Finish become more smooth although naturally a bit watered down. But despite the low ABV you can experiment with a few drops of Water.

Rating: 78
Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 19 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 19.5

The King Edward I is the third bottle from the left.

General Remarks: The whisky I'm tasting today is part of a box containing six Blended Scotch Whisky samples produced somewhere between 1955 and 1965. They are all named after English and Scottish royalties. This box-set is sold by the Dutch based Rare Whisky Site www.rarewhiskysite.com. The King Edward I is still for sale. On the site of the Whisky Exchange it costs around 190 US Dollars. The owners of the Brand seem to be John Dewar & Sons Ltd of Glasgow.


Drinking Experience Neat: Good.

Conclusion: No way I would spend 190 US Dollars for a bottle of the King Edward I. This Blend, though a bit Musty, is well-balanced on the Nose but does not show any interesting characteristics on the Palate and in the Finish. It's perfectly drinkable of course but I want my whisky to be more than just that!

Jan van den Ende                                                                       March 2013

Queen Elizabeth Blended Whisky Review


*This is a picture of a bottle of the Queen Elizabeth NAS I found on the German site called Wein und Whisky Raritaeten. The only other picture available was the Group picture you will find below. The Queen Elizabeth NAS is the Johnnie Walker lookalike bottle on the left side of the picture.

Country: Scotland 
Brand: Queen Elizabeth 
Blended by Burn Brae (Blenders) Ltd., Perth
Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
Age: NAS 
ABV: 43 %
Date: 14/02/2013

Colour: Pale Gold 

Nose: Right after opening the sample tube I thought I got distant hints of Peat Smoke and Leather. But in the glass, the Nose is typically (average) Speyside with Malt, Sherry, Floral Notes, Buttered Toast, Wood and Pencil Shavings, Citrus, Honey, Unripe Pear and Dried Fruits (Currants and Apricot). Tones of young and slightly sharp Grain Alcohol and a light nutty bitterness. I would have liked to find some sweet Fruity notes here. All in all I'm not too impressed.

Palate: Sharp and Spicy delivery with Grains, Nuts, Wet Cardboard Boxes, Green Wood, Honey, Pepper, Orange and Licorice.

Finish: Middle-Long with Honey, Malt, Pepper,Nuts, Grain, Licorice, Wood and this slightly unpleasant bitterness.

I added a bit of water and the Nose gets extra Malt and Honey. You get rid of most of the sharp and bitter tones. The problem is that there's not much else left as well. Still you can experiment with a couple of drops. On the Palate and in the (shorter) Finish the Grain and Licorice start to dominate. 

Rating: 75.5 (out of 100)
Nose: 19 - Taste: 19 - Finish: 18.5 - Overall: 19


General Remarks: The whisky I'm tasting today is part of a box containing six Blended Scotch Whisky samples produced somewhere between 1955 and 1965. They are all named after English and Scottish royalties. This box-set is sold by the Dutch based Rare Whisky Site www.rarewhiskysite.com. I must admit that I could hardly find any information on the whisky I'm tasting today, the Queen Elizabeth. I know it was blended in the old days by a company that was called Burn Brae (Blenders) Ltd of Perth in Scotland. This company does not exist anymore. As far as I could find out, the company merged with - or was incorporated by J & W Hardie Ltd of Edinburgh that in turn was acquired from United Distillers in 1995 by the Japanese owners of the Tomatin Distillery. I'm not sure if the Brand Name Queen Elizabeth was also required at that time or that it's now in the hands of the Diageo Group. Bottles of Queen Elizabeth 5 Years are traded every once in a while via whisky auctions or E-Bay. I also found that you can still buy full bottles of this NAS expression at around 25 US Dollars on a German site called: 

Wein-und-Whisky-Raritaeten.de 


Drinking Experience Neat: Average

Conclusion: I was really excited to start nosing and tasting this Blend of which I only have a small 25 ml. sample. First of all because this whisky was bottled when I was between 3 and 13 years of age! And secondly it's been said and written that Blends in those days were not only much better than today's blends but also vastly superior to many of today's Single Malts. Quite a challenge therefore!
Unfortunately the reality was quite different. The Queen Elizabeth is a very average blended whisky with no specific qualities. It shows the characteristics of a young spirit matured for I would guess 3-5 years in (at least a significant percentage) of third and/or fourth re-fill ex-Sherry Casks. There's some Sherry on the Nose but it's not - or hardly noticeable on the Palate and in the Finish. This blend is not very well balanced and sweet Fresh Fruit and/or Sherry tones are sorely missed. Summing it up, we've got 1 Royalty down but fortunately still 5 to go. Better luck next time!

Jan van den Ende                                                                   February 2013