Over 90% of all Scotch whisky sold is blended whisky. Blended whisky has been the cornerstone of the industry for so long because it is cheaper to produce than single malt whisky. The reason is, blended whisky contains grain whisky as well as malt whisky and grain whisky is much cheaper and easier to produce. The grain brings different qualities to the final blend than the malts do, and helps to bring more boisterous malts together too. The result is an an approachable whisky, made to suit a wide range of palates that is also more economical than a single malt.
Recently, we’re seeing more Scotch grain whiskies released that flaunt the fact that grain whiskies can be delectable in their own right. There are single grains and also blended grain whiskies now available that are more than worth your time.
€38Original price was: €38.€31.55Current price is: €31.55.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Bright gold. This is an inference based on first-fill bourbon maturation and retailer imagery rather than a formally published colour note.
Nose: Vanilla bean, caramel, coconut, and sweet cereal notes with a soft creamy lift. This is based on published retailer descriptors, expanded into fuller note form.
Palate: Buttery toffee, honeyed grain, gentle oak spice, and a rounded, creamy texture that carries the sweetness well.
Finish: Smooth and warming, with lingering vanilla, toasted almond, and a softly drying oak note.
€42Original price was: €42.€37Current price is: €37.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep gold to amber. This is an inference based on oloroso cask maturation and retailer imagery rather than a formally published colour note.
Nose: Dark caramel, dried fruits, roasted nuts, butterscotch, maple syrup, and a light floral lift. This is based on published retailer descriptors, expanded into fuller note form.
Palate: Rich toffee, spiced oak, chocolate-covered raisins, and underlying vanilla sweetness with a smooth grain texture running through the middle.
Finish: Long and warming, with lingering sherry spice, toasted almonds, and gently drying oak.
You never usually see Fuji whiskey outside of Japan… until now! This single grain is made predominately of malted barley and corn with some rye and comprises three different styles, a Canadian-style grain whiskey made using batch distillation with a kettle distiller (similar to a pot still), a bourbon-style grain whiskey distillate using a doubler (Fuji boasts the only kettle and Doubler outside the U.S.), and a Scotch-style grain whisky made using a column still.
Check out the bottom of the bottle and you’ll notice an indent that looks a little like a mountain. Isn’t there a Mount Fuji? Probably just a coincidence.
€38.50Original price was: €38.50.€35.90Current price is: €35.90.
Greign 20 Year Old Single Grain
Greign is a Single Grain Whisky from the Macduff distillery. The original founders of the distillery buy exceptional old casks for the maturation of their whiskies. The Greign was matured in a mixture of sherry casks and freshly burnt-out casks, making the single grain a smooth, full-bodied dram.
A deliciously creamy single grain Scotch whisky here, matured for 20 years before being bottled up. Two decades has given this one plenty of time for its flavour profile to develop all those hallmark yummy grain notes, so expect toffee, honey, and cooked fruits notes by the bucket-load.
Category Single Grain
Bottler John Dewar & Sons Ltd. (JD&S)
Bottling serie Single Grain Scotch Whisky
Bottled 2020
Stated Age 20 years old
Cask Type American ex-Bourbon casks, Spanish ex-Jerez Sherry casks
Strength 40.0 % Vol.Size 700 ml
Label Selected by Stephanie Macleod, Master Blender
€49Original price was: €49.€33Current price is: €33.
Haig Club is a new Single Grain Scotch Whisky with a character and style that sets it apart. Â Haig Club is designed to be different – from the unique way in which the liquid has been crafted to the distinctive square, blue bottle, to the partnership with global icon David Beckham and British entrepreneur Simon Fuller.
The much anticipated David Beckham endorsed single grain whisky, produced at Cameronbridge distillery. A combination of first-fill, rejuvenated and refill bourbon barrel-matured whiskies are used and Beckham, along with Simon Fuller, is very much involved in the development of the Haig Club brand.
The Haig dynasty meanwhile is the stuff of legend, with Robert Haig getting himself into trouble for distilling on the sabbath back in 1655! Cameronbridge was founded by John Haig in 1824, and a continuous still designed by Robert Stein (who was John’s uncle) was soon installed at the site for the production of grain whisky, predating Aeneas Coffey’s famous patent for his own version of the continuous still by a handful of years.
The grain whisky produced at Cameronbridge would naturally become integral to the well-loved Haig blended whiskies and now the Haig brand has been reinvented for a new generation and new markets. It may seem like a scary new world to some, but grain whisky is on the march, and Haig Club is at the very forefront.
Made by John Haig and Company, the oldest Scotch whisky distillers in the world (well, in Scotland, and by proxy the world). Haig Gold Label is made with 40% malt whisky, including Glenkinchie and Linkwood.
A single grain whisky selected by Angus Dundee for their Hamiltons range. Although the whisky regions don’t really apply to grain whisky, this is from an unnamed distillery situated in the Lowlands.
€99.99Original price was: €99.99.€89Current price is: €89.
A blend from the king of independent Japanese distillers, Ichiro Akuto. In addition to whisky from his own Chichibu distillery, it also includes whiskies from America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland. As it says on the label – ‘This is worldwide blended whisky’.
Grand stuff from Invergordon, independently bottled by The Red Cask Company, meaning you can expect a generous helping of sherry cask influence here! Distilled in 1996, this single grain Scotch spent the next 26 years maturing, including time in a first-fill ex-oloroso hogshead. A total of 214 cask-strength bottles were released in 2022.
From Douglas Laing’s fantastic Xtra Old Particular range comes a 30 year old Invergordon single grain, matured in a refill butt cask from August 1988 to July 2019. After three decades of peaceful slumber, this grain whisky was bottled at cask strength, with an outturn of 440 bottles.
Having been in specialist and craft Scotch Whisky production for generations, Douglas Laing originally exported blends, but now carries the family name down the line by focusing on bottling exceptional single malts and grains as part of their Old Particular, Provenance and XOP ranges. They also enjoy huge success with their “Remarkable Regional Malts” range; a series of creatively named vatted malts, designed to epitomise the characteristics of Scotland’s whisky regions.
Douglas Laing’s XOP – Xtra Old Particular – is a premium selection of the very best rare single malts and grains from the family vault. Each XOP release is one of a kind and comes with a numbered certificate to honour the antique spirit inside.
KYTHREA SINGLE GRAIN CYPRUS WHISKEY – Corn/Barley
The abundant sunshine and the rich volcanic soil is the secret combination behind the unique character and intense aroma of the grains, botanicals, and fruit grown on the island of Cyprus. We work exclusively with local sources to produce unique spirits that reflect the beautiful nature of our island, from the field to this bottle.
This unique “bourbon style”, unfiltered Single Grain Malt Whiskey, has a wonderful nose that reveals candy vanilla toffee, with buttery corn and roasted nut aromas with hints of cloves and orange blossom! It’s followed by a sweet corn mouthfeel and a long spicy finish. This whiskey was aged in new medium charred, Missouri oak casks that together with the well-balanced Famagusta-grown corn and Nicosia-grown six-row barley (Kythrea), offers a unique full-bodied grain whiskey, one that is malted, distilled, and aged, exclusively in Cyprus by Aristides Distiling!
€59Original price was: €59.€55Current price is: €55.
Using the two Coffey stills at the Miyagikyo distillery, which were imported from Scotland to Japan in 1963, Nikka have produced a number of single cask single grain whiskies from time to time over the years. This, however, is their larger release of wonderfully exotic single grain whisky. Now in a 70cl bottle!
€144Original price was: €144.€134Current price is: €134.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep gold to amber. This is an inference based on the sherry-cask style and product imagery rather than a formally published colour note.
Nose: Rich and mature, with dried fruits, polished oak, soft toffee, vanilla, and a gentle oloroso-led sweetness. This is an inference based on the cask type, age, and release style, as I did not find a reliable official published tasting note for this exact bottling.
Palate: Smooth and warming, with sherried sweetness, caramelised grain, dried fruit, nutty spice, and a rounded old-oak character. This is an inference based on the stated refill oloroso maturation and the nature of long-aged single grain whisky.
Finish: Long, mellow, and softly drying, with lingering toffee, oak spice, dried fruit, and mature sherry notes. This is an inference based on the cask type and overall presentation rather than a separately published finish note.
€109Original price was: €109.€99.90Current price is: €99.90.
A limited edition 13 Year Old Single Grain made in the Unconventional Teeling way! This whiskey was made using a recipe of 95% corn and 5% malted barley. Aged in ex-bourbon casks before maturing a total of 4 years in ex Bordeaux red wine casks. Expect plenty of summer fruit flavours, raspberry jam, vanilla cream, and spicy, dry tannins in this sensational whiskey!
This award-winning whiskey has won best in class annually at the World Whiskies Awards since its release, and is one of only a handful of Single Grain bottlings in the world.
It is fully matured in Californian red wine barrels resulting in an intensely fruity and beautifully amber liquid, with lush berry notes.
Hand selected casks, bottled at 46% with no chill filtration to ensure all the unique flavour is captured.
This award-winning whiskey has won best in class annually at the World Whiskies Awards since its release, and is one of only a handful of Single Grain bottlings in the world.
It is fully matured in Californian red wine barrels resulting in an intensely fruity and beautifully amber liquid, with lush berry notes.
Hand selected casks, bottled at 46% with no chill filtration to ensure all the unique flavour is captured.
This award-winning whiskey has won best in class annually at the World Whiskies Awards since its release, and is one of only a handful of Single Grain bottlings in the world.
It is fully matured in Californian red wine barrels resulting in an intensely fruity and beautifully amber liquid, with lush berry notes.
Hand selected casks, bottled at 46% with no chill filtration to ensure all the unique flavour is captured.
€38.50Original price was: €38.50.€29Current price is: €29.
Three Scottish Bros 20yo
A glorious single grain Scotch, matured for a generous 20 years, and bottled up by Three Scottish Brothers. We don’t know the story of the brothers, but they appear to have a talent for bottling up superbly well-aged whisky, at a rather favourable price.
