The brand new Dewar’s 12 12 months previous now receives its secondary maturation in first-fill bourbon barrels, accentuating the whisky’s vanilla and toffee notes.
The storied Dewar’s mix has lengthy been among the many extra conventional scotch whisky labels, however that state of affairs has modified in recent times. The shift began with the introduction of its ultra-aged 21, 27, and 32 12 months previous Double Double releases again in 2019, which had been adopted by the launch of the Dewar’s Cask Sequence in that very same 12 months. The primary launch in that sequence was Dewar’s Caribbean Clean, completed in rum casks, and Dewar’s has since added finishes in mezcal, port, mizunara oak and calvados casks. Now Dewar’s has turned its efforts towards a refresh of Dewar’s 12 12 months previous.
The components for Dewar’s 12 12 months previous has at all times began with a mix of 40 aged single malt and grain whiskies aged in a mix of refill casks, first-fill bourbon casks, and sherry casks, and that continues to be the case. However in its newly remastered model, the ultimate mix has been aged for about 3 months in first-fill bourbon casks, a change that has amped up the vanilla flavors and toffee sweetness that lie at Dewar’s coronary heart. “We haven’t modified the [liquid] recipe—that’s precisely the identical,” emphasizes grasp blender Stephanie Macleod.
Beforehand, the secondary ageing stage for Dewar’s 12 12 months previous intentionally came about in oak that added little discernible wooden affect or additional maturation complexity. “In years passed by, we had a marrying warehouse the place we had nice massive butts with a hose moving into and a hose going out,” Macleod describes. “These [vessels] had been on the go for years, and so they helped to convey all the weather of the mix collectively and permit them to get to know one another.”
The thought of introducing ending to the mix in bourbon casks originated from Macleod’s work on the Dewar’s 19 12 months previous Championship Version 2021, which concerned first-fill bourbon cask ending. “We acquired these beautiful comfortable vanilla and toffee notes, and I assumed that if we are able to do it there, why don’t we do it with Dewar’s 12 [year old]?” says Macleod. She was pleasantly shocked at how a lot the bourbon casks influenced the flavors of the 12 12 months previous. “We’ve amplified these toffee and vanilla notes—the sweeter notes, the creaminess of the whisky—and introduced them to life,” Macleod provides. “The whisky is extra unctuous, it’s chewier. On the palate, you are feeling such as you’ve actually acquired one thing.”
Dedicating first-fill bourbon casks for double-aging a whisky on the dimensions of Dewar’s 12 12 months previous actually has added to manufacturing prices, however Dewar’s is holding the road on pricing, maintaining it at $30. Although nobody is saying for positive, the bourbon casks might come from Kentucky distiller Angel’s Envy, a sister firm that, like Dewar’s, is owned by drinks multinational Bacardi Ltd.
This transfer is in line with different latest improvements within the Dewar’s vary, which have all been concerning the whisky and its style profile. From the Dewar’s Cask Sequence that finishes an 8 12 months previous mix with casks from consuming cultures in several elements of the world to the ending on the annual Open Championship bottling and the ageing pedigree of its Double Double sequence, the improvements are all targeted on taste. “That’s very a lot what Dewar’s is about,” says Macleod. “We need to discover, to analyze. We need to present that blends are tough to make—that there’s complexity, and that you simply’ll discover one thing completely different each time you return to a Dewar’s mix.”
Whereas Macleod says there are not any imminent plans to alter the 15 and 18 12 months previous blends, there’s a way that that is the beginning of a brand new section for Dewar’s. The corporate’s plan to construct a brand new inventive hub on the Dewar’s campus in Glasgow is a sign of extra to come back. “We’re going to have a look at all points of the method, what can we do to make (the whiskies) higher, and find out how to make them completely different,” she provides.
Search for the total evaluation of the brand new Dewar’s 12 12 months previous within the Fall concern of Whisky Advocate, however in the meantime, learn preliminary tasting notes by Jonny McCormick, contributing editor and lead reviewer for blended scotch whisky. And above, hear from Macleod herself concerning the new whisky.
Dewar’s 12 12 months previous, 40% ABV, $30
Vibrant aromas of honey, caramel, dried apricot and apple slices, blended peel, malt, roasted spices, wealthy vanilla, and an imprint of woodsmoke. Silky clean flavors of honey, heat citrus, black pepper, darkish chocolate, and a lick of smoke are adopted by vanilla, burnt toffee, black cherry, espresso, and comfortable oak. The end provides milk chocolate and hazelnut latte.
