Black & White Blended Scotch

Nose: Cereal and a little sherry, citrus notes, malt, freshly baked bread. Not a particularly characterful nose but there's no ethanol taint and there is a tiny whiff of smoke. It's vaguely reminiscent of the Johnnie Walker blend character, but better - pleasantly crisp and light. [There is a greater smoky note on the dry-glass]. Palate: Wow! Totally unexpected! A full and creamy arrival with great balance. Sweet and fruity at first but then as it hits the palate a generous helping of well-articulated smoke rolls in ahead of a mouth-filling malt surge. It doesn't last for long but it makes a stunning impression while it does. The texture is silken and soft, and there is a mildly spicy character that lasts right until the end. Finish: Medium. Malty, spicy and sweet with a trailing aftertaste. There is a crisp, light cereal graininess in the finale that is quite elegant and it avoids any metallic stain. This is the first time I've ever tasted Black & White and I get why it is a firm favourite for some folks, but I can also see why others would hate it. It is a show-pony for grain whisky - very GOOD grain whisky with excellent flavour and texture - while the malt content is there purely to provide a dramatic and precisely defined malt, fruit and smoke counterpoint. It's an unusual way to create a blend. It has great simplicity and clarity of profile and that's kind of the downside as well. If you are not partial to light and breezy blends with a silky texture then this will seem either devoid of flavour or too much centered on "sweet but bland" grain whisky. If you crave a blend where the malt whisky content dominates the grain whisky then you'll not like this so much. It works stonkingly well either as a neat tipple (in which case it is way too easy to drink!) or with soda water where the character is in no way diminished by dilution. In fact I'd go so far as to say that this is one of the best lower-mid shelf blends I've tasted in a simple highball. The biggest thing going against it is the price, which puts it into direct competition with Johnnie Walker Black Label, Ballantine's 12, Dewer's 12 and any number of other good middle-shelf blends. In that company it gets a little lost, which is a shame as this is a pretty good dram. If it was cheaper I'd buy it again. I do think that the official score of 74 is pointlessly mean - this is easily comparable to blends that have been rated much more highly here and IMHO it's worth more like 80 at least. Oh, and one more thought - if you are a big fan of Compass Box Hedonism blended grain whisky then try a dram of that followed immediately by a neat taste of this. You will get the picture instantly, and Black & White may just be revealed as your favourite blended scotch. "Above Average" : 80/100 (3 stars)

Whilst not unusual to have a whiskey distillery with a 130+ history its a lot less common to have a whiskey itself have the same longevity. Well officially its name wasn't Black and White until 1902 but it was known as such long before that. It initially incorporated Dalwhinnie, Clynelish and Glendullan malts but not to sure what the mixture is now. They still sell over 1 million cases these days. Many moons ago it seems (well actually last month) at NZ Dramfest I was lucky my friend mentioned a free talk on rare whiskeys. I had sadly missed out on purchasing the paid session (and my chance to taste a Brora dammit!) but I took what I thought was a break from drinking whiskey to listen to some talking from Dave Broom, Charles MacLean and the founder of the festival. To my surprise they also allowed us a sample of a 30 year old 30% example of this drop. One of my most interesting whiskey experiences, completely different from today's style or even singe malts of similar age. One word Molasses! Hard to judge it as its a unique beast but I'll say 3.5.

I am 69 years old and had never seen this in my area until yesterday. I knew its reputation was to be rather average, though some folks rate it to be one of the better traditional blends. To be forthright, some average Scotches are among my favorites because they hit some of the flavor notes I really enjoy. This is is a decent "bottom shelf" blend. There is malt, a bit of sweetness and a whiff of smoke. It lies soft in the mouth with only a little heat. It is overall smooth and inoffensive. I am sure the blenders had that as their goal. But, nothing really stands out for me. There are other bottom or near-bottom shelf blended whiskies I prefer the taste of--such as Grant's Family Reserve, Loch Lomond or Teacher's Highland Cream. This would be a fine mixer and would work great at parties as a "middle of the road" Scotch that should not offend anyone--nor enthrall them.

Taiwan has a thriving convenience store scotch culture. People here love their single malt. Picked this up on a whim and it’s not offensive or remarkable. Twist the cap and the nose assaults you from across the room. Everything about this screams “booze that wants to convince you it’s a booze” or at least “take me serious.” I don’t know what’s on the nose. Booze? Maybe a sneaky hint of licorice. Palette hints with herbs and dime store potpourri. It sounds like a cut, but it’s not. This bottle is fine. The price is right. Nice to have on hand in the hotel.

I got a 1.75L of this for a Christmas present from one of my student's parents. They must know us teachers pretty well. ;) Just what I needed to make mixed drinks over the holidays and not waste the good sipping stuff for me. :) Back when I was drinking Rob Roys every night this would have been okay, but it certainly isn't a great sipping scotch. Pretty much like all the lower-shelf scotch. I think for half the price I'd stick with the Highland's Mist. You can't really tell the difference once you add sweet and dry vermouth and bitters.

They say lightning doesn't strike twice but I popped into a local whisky store and hello hello an old Black and White. Now the last one I got to try was a 1980's. This was from 1966 and at $10USD a pour or $200 USD a bottle damn good value. I got to see the half opened cask with a number of unopened bottles remaining. Similar to the 1980s one from dramfest. It's like molasses, burnt rich toffee. Really interesting. Night and day from todays bland offerings. I still can't believe you can still get 50+ year bottlings so reasonably.