Logan De Luxe 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Logan De Luxe

Bottled by White Horse Distillers, Glasgow

Type: Blended Whisky

Age: 12 Years

Alcohol: 40%

Colour:  Golden

Nose: Grains, Biscuit, Caramel, Malt, Oak, Sharp Alcohol, Light Peat and hints of Leather. The Alcohol makes it difficult to determine the individual flavors. I find a bit of Honey and a sweet Floral tone in the back of the glass but they are being dominated. The Nose is certainly not unpleasant but I was expecting juicy sweet Fruit – and Honey tones that the Speyside Malts normally present. I also can’t detect the Smoke from the Lagavulin.

Taste: Sweet Grain, Caramel, Sugar, Light Spice. Not too much going on here but highly drinkable.

Finish: Sweet with a bit of Pepper, Licorice and Green Apples.

When adding three drops of water you get more floral tones on the Nose. On the Palate I couldn’t find a lot of changes, The Finish gets a bit sweeter. You can experiment with a few drops to see what’s best for you.

Rating: 82 

Nose: 20.5 – Taste: 21.5 – Finish: 19.5 – Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: White Horse Distillers is owned by the Diageo Group. On Diageo’s Web-Site however I couldn’t find a thing about Logan. So I wouldn’t be surprised if this Blend were to be discontinued. The Blend was first introduced by Sir Peter Mackie who also created the White Horse Blend. It was named after James Logan, a one time Scotch Whisky blender. Logan is blended using the Single Malts Lagavulin (Islay), Glen Elgin and Craigellachie (Speyside)

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Good

Conclusion: 

Lately I have been complaining a lot about the fact that, in general, the lower end Blended Scotch Whiskies are boring and without any challenge. Today I won’t do that. And not because of the fact that the Logan represents a lot of challenges because it doesn’t. It lacks Fruit and Honey and Smoke despite the Single Malts that form its heart. Grain and Caramel rule here. But despite all this I still enjoyed Logan while it’s completely and utterly drinkable. And that at a reasonable price. Let’s hope that Diageo maintains the Logan 12 in its product range but to be honest I fear for the worst. The old-fashioned bottle and presentation are likely to be swallowed by the new JW Range. Sad but probably true!

Jan van den Ende                                                                    April 21,  2012