Brand: Something Special
Bottled by Hill, Thomson & Co. Ltd., Paisley
Type: Blended Whisky
Age: Unspecified
Alcohol: 40%
Chill-Filtration: Yes
Chill-Filtration: Yes
Colour: Deep Golden (Artificially Coloured)
Nose: When you pour this Blend in your glass you immediately get Peat and Light Smoke that remind you of a light Islay whisky. However, the Peat and Smoke are driven back quickly to the back of the glass and Dried Fruits, Grain, Wood, Nuts and Malt come into play. After a while in the glass, Earth and Wood tones begin to dominate. There isn’t much sharp Alcohol, which is good but I only get hints of Fruit and Sherry and that’s a pity! This Blend would benefit from some more fruity tones.
Taste: Sweet (Sugar, Honey) and Spicy Oak.
Finish: Not overly long and quickly getting dry. Some Cocoa Powder, Nuts and Wood.
When adding four or five drops of water, the Peat on the nose withdraws to the background and floral - and mineral tones appear. The palate however just gets watered down. So you can nose this blend with -and without a few drops of water but better drink it neat.
Rating: 77,5
Nose: 20– Taste: 19– Finish: 19 – Overall: 19,5
General Remarks: The Longmorn Distillery (Speyside) is the home of this Blend. It is said that Something Special contains a lot of the Longmorn 15 Years, maybe as much as 35%. I also suspect some Islay malt and assorted Grain Whiskies. The Distillery is currently owned by the French Pernod Ricard Group, that also owns Chivas Regal. Something Special, a blend created in 1793, is said to age in Bourbon and Sherry Casks but I can’t find too much Sherry influences in this Blend which is a pity. Something Special with its Diamond shaped bottle was a huge success in the Seventies. Today it still flourishes in Latin America and in countries like Venezuela, Uruguay and Colombia.
The Longmorn Distillery
Drinking Experience Neat: Okay
Conclusion: With the Speyside Single Malt Longmorn 15 Years at the heart of this blend, I would have expected more fruity and floral tones. Instead I get a lot of Earth and Peat and Wood tones. Maybe even a bit too much (cheap) Wood. I wonder how a younger Longmorn, say 12 years, would have fitted in this Blend.
So is this Blend really Something Special? I don’t think so. It’s more of a missed opportunity in my opinion. It’s not very expensive of course. You can get it for around US$ 25,- in the Duty Free Shop. I picked one up there but I think I’ll pass next time!
Jan van den Ende March 25, 2012
