Grand MacNish 12yr Blended Malt

I was reading an article somewhere a little while back and it stated that Blended whiskies were getting a better recognition in the malt world, and that’s great news. Generally blends are looked upon as the irritating yet bearable relative, but many are changing that perspective with some quality blend expressions.

This, I feel, is one of those higher quality yet easily accessible blends. Grand MacNish 12 year was a purchase I made with a bit of spare cash as it had a nice colour and an interestingly shaped bottle! It’s not overly complicated, but yet there is still a lot going on when you give this blend a taste. It has a smooth, almost flowery smell to it, and when tasting there’s a strength and quite intense flavour there. Grand MacNish is a decent combination of malts, and although I don’t know what ones are used, they come together to give a sweet, fruity taste that lingers just long enough.

There are a lot of poor blends available, well, poor in comparison to the single malts of the world, and that’s why blended malts have such a bad name. However with top quality blends coming from companies such as Chivas Regal, Whyte & Mackay and Ballantines, the opinion is changing, and by doing so, some of the cheaper, more accessible blends are upping their game, such as this Gran MacNish 12yr.