Blend your own whisky?

@mystycreek, check out the 5 years running discussion (of mine) Getting Creative: Vattings, for many ideas already expressed.

www.connosr.com/…

This is a good primer for ideas – Tim taught me everything I know :) scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/…

My favorites:

•Laphroaig + anything. Otherwise known as "The Salvager."

•A'bunadh + Connemara Turf Mor. Because I don't love either one, and the mix is better than either. Too round + too sharp = just right.

@Ol_Jas I added Laphroaig QC to Bladnoch 12 when I just could not take the vegetal note, and it really spruced it up.

@Victor thanks for your notice, I forgot to check the word "vatting". Blending tequila with whisky is an interesting idea, I should try blending my rhum martinique with some Islay whisky.

@Ol_Jas Laphroaig indeed has magic to make a lot of liquor tastes better. I got a 1000ml bottle of Laphroaig 10yo which I don't really enjoy on its own, and I'm undergoing some experiment based on it.

I have a bottle in the cupboard which is like a 'living blend', it's occasionally topped up with various mid level whiskies when I'm coming to the end of the bottle. I sometimes pour a glass for visitors and try and get them to guess the origin, which is funny when the drinker knows about whisky.

@Ol_Jas A'bunadh + Connemara Turf Mor....This sounds like an interesting blend - big, bold sherry with triple distilled smoothnees and peaty smoke. Will need to try this blend with some heels.

A'bunadh + Connemara Turf Mor

Would try this if I had any Turf Mor left. Haven't see this for years.

Feels like the connemara might get overpowered by the A'bunadh. An interesting notion nonetheless

@tfahey1298 & @Alexsweden : In case you haven't had the Connemara Turf Mor, know that it's a beast. It can't really boast any smoothness, and it's in no danger of being overpowered by anything.

Ooo, I've been meaning to look into this. Thanks for the tips!

I've just started a home blend in a spare decanter. I had a small amount of Talisker Dark Storm and decided to add 1:1 Glengoyne 10. Nose was garbage so I was a little dismayed but after letting it mix a while the taste isn't too bad. The smokeyness is mellowed a little but some of the malty flavours of the Glengoyne have managed to get through

@NNWhisky Is it a crystal decanter? If so make sure it is lead free. Keeping spirits long-term in a crystal decanter, especially something like a "living" blend that keeps changing as you add heels, has the risk of leeching lead from the crystal into your whisky, which likely won't change the taste but could cause health problems.

I actually don't know as I bought it 2nd hand. It was REALLY cheap though so I'd guess it isn't leaded.

@NNWhisky If it's really cheap then it's MORE LIKELY to be leaded...

Interesting, I'd always thought the other way round. Maybe it's time to rethink my container haha!

@NNWhisky Use an old bottle. Its safe and the cork will fit.

Moved this post to victors thread above

More experimentation with the Wiser's Blend Your Own Whisky, and taking advantage of the 9.09% rule to add in some 10 year-old Spanish Brandy, 12 year-old Amontillado Sherry, and 21 year-old Cask Strength Single Grain Scotch. Bottled at 40.4% ABV.

@YakLord Interesting experiment. Have you tasted it yet?

If you don’t mind me asking, what is the 9.09% rule?

@Timp Canadian law allows non-whisky additives in Canadian whisky up to a maximum of 10% of the starting volume of whisky. Final product is 1/11 additives by volume maximum allowable by law in Canada to call it whisky. Final maximum allowable additives? 1/11 = 9.09% additives, by volume.

There is nothing whatsoever magical about the number 9.09%. It is just an arbitrary nice round 10% extra stuff by volume allowable to be thrown into the drink.

@Victor Thanks very much, never knew that. Regards..

@Victor There are some regulations as to what can be added into Canadian whisky. @paddockjudge would know far more about that than I do, but I believe the aforementioned additives must have been aged for at least two years.

@OdysseusUnbound Yep, any additives included in the 9.09% must have spent a minimum of 2 years in oak, so a 10yr brandy, a 12yr sherry, and a 21yr Scotch qualify. Based on the final measurements, the additive ingredients only compromise 9% of the final blend, and the majority is the 21yr cask strength Scotch, which was needed to offset the lower ABV of the sherry.

@Victor And the key point is allows. That doesn't always means Canadian blenders do. Alberta Premium Dark Batch (or Dark Horse here in Canada) did, and they were very up front about it. I believe there's some Cognac in the Canadian Club Chronicles series, too. It started as a tax incentive thing for export purposes, to include some orange wine, the result of a spoiled citrus harvest in the US, in blends intended for sale in the US, so wasn't used with domestic product for a long time.

@Timp I tasted a previous version, that used the 21yr Scotch and a 19yr Armagnac, and it was quite good. Am going to let it marry for a bit before tasting.