The Singleton

The Singleton
I have been promising a taste test of The Singleton single malt scotch whisky for a few weeks now, so here it is.
Last night we were watching a movie on TV followed by a couple of comedians (Black and Titus, very funny) so it seemed to me like the perfect time to try out that bottle of The Singleton that I bought a couple of months ago. I will be honest, I thought it was a blend when I heard of it and I think one of my friends told me that but it is a single malt aged for 12 years in bourbon and sherry casks. I love the sherry taste in a good whisky so this is right down my alley. Diageo imports this whisky into America and after my tasting I definitely will buy this again. I guess I really haven’t found a sherry aged scotch that I don’t like, at least not yet. This is another Speyside product meaning it comes from East of Inverness in the area by the Spey river along with a lot of heavy weight top quality scotches. The water from the Spey and its burns (creeks) is really quite good and good water and good barley are the main two ingredients for a top notch scotch. It is made at or near Glendullan. If you are of a mind to do the whisky trail and visit lots of distilleries in Scotland Speyside is a great place to do that. Dozens of great whisky houses to visit and a very interesting cooperage where they make and repair casks that is also open to your touring and the cooperage has a nice little tea room/eatery out back that was a lovely place to have a snack.
Tasting notes?...............well I don’t really do that like the “experts” do but here are a few things I noticed. This whisky has a good clean smell, an honest here-I-am-love-me-or-leave-me smell and of course a whiff of sherry comes through. I do smell spun sugar, maybe some vanilla, and the smell of good quality candy is also there for me. I think people smell things that are usually individual to that persons likes and dislikes but that’s just me. Good smooth sherry taste comes dashing out of this very attractive bottle. I tipped up the bottle and drank an ounce or so right from the source at first and was very pleased at how smooth and delicious this scotch is. Then I poured some in a glass and had another sip of straight whisky. Again, I loved it. Next step for me is to add a splash of water and smell and taste again. The water did not drown it but like those rascally experts say “it opened the bouquet to me.” Next since a lot of people do drink their scotch with ice I added some ice and drank about 3 glasses in this manner effectively killing off between ¼ and 1/3 of the treasure at my first sitting. Not too heavy, not to light, just right. Perhaps a little less heavy than Glendronach (another sherry scotch see article dedicated to it elsewhere in this blog), and maybe a bit heaver than Glenfiddich (a very popular scotch also discussed elsewhere in this blog). No smoky taste or smell to this scotch and while that is probably greatly disappointing to your smoky bears out there I promise we will rate some more smoky whiskies later this year. We did a few already please do go back and look at our older articles they stand on their own and we would love your comments to any of our articles. My drinking was done at home and no pedestrians were harmed in the making of this article . While I’m pretty sure Diageo is not interested in talking to me and probably the good folks at The Singleton aren’t clamoring to tell me how much they appreciate my thoughts on their product……… I must rate this a top notch scotch in the 30 to 40 dollar a bottle category. One of my friends has been drinking this regularly for quite a while and continues to marvel at how good it is at such a reasonable price and I have to agree. Buy this scotch next time you want a good one. It will stand up to ice and water and is really good straight up or right out of the bottle for you folks who care about as much for sophistication as I do.
Remember life is very short, make the most of every moment. The meaning of life is very simple. Be warm in the winter, cool in the summer, have plenty of good things to eat and plenty of good things to drink, someone to love, comfy clothes to wear and a roof over your head. Everything else is just crap. All the best, stay safe and do your drinking at home or with a designated driver at the wheel. Try The Singleton, I think you will really like it. I know I do.
PS. Saw another article on this scotch and they said (have no idea if its true or not) that The Singleton will be making a whiskey in America releasing it later this year…….let me know if you see it or try it.
The Whisky Warrior