Thompson bros 1969 Blended Spirit Drink

Thompson bros 1969 Blended Spirit Drink

Region: N/A

ABV: 40.1%

Price: £85.00

As we understand it this is a mix of 19.4% Dornoch cask #0, 12.2% 10 yo Caol Ila, and the remainder being a 1969 Blended malt that had dropped to below 40%.

Nose

The nose opens with a little charred oak, coffee, barley sugars, eucalyptus, tinned peaches, icing sugar, and a bit of wholemeal toast. It’s an intriguing nose, you can definitely tell there’s pretty old whisky in here, but there’s a younger spirit note on top. That younger spirit note is relatively well integrated but it’s still fairly detectable. Time and air brings out stewed apple, a little cinnamon, French pastries and almond marzipan.

Palate

The palate begins with light caramel, vanilla essence, white pepper spice, cinnamon sugar and mellow bonfire smoke in the background. There’s also green apple skin, lime juice, a little sea salt and buttery pastry. The mouthfeel is a bit thin, although we expected that with the low ABV, and the finish has a medium length with primarily bonfire embers and salted caramel. There’s also something rum-like as it sits on the palate, funky Jamaican rum-style. There’s not really any alcohol burn here, it’s really quite drinkable.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose becomes a lot fruiter, more red fruits, strawberries, raspberries and currants. We’re still getting a lot of the French pastry and buttery notes too. Otherwise the nose hasn’t changed too much.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate is oakier and smokier, charred wood, bonfire smoke, a little bit of leather and some chocolate too. The mouthfeel and finish are largely the same, with a bit more caramel and toffee coming through on the latter palate.

Conclusion

We’re a bit split on this dram. It’s really interesting to be able to try such an old spirit, but we can’t help feel that the younger whiskies have perhaps detracted a touch from the experience. It’s still a solid dram, and one that changes and evolves over time.

Score: 7/10

Value

Some people might be upset at the price of this given it’s actually six years old, but when you look at the constituent parts you’ll realise it’s a bargain.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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