Dewar's 12 Year The Ancestor (Discontinued)

My main experience with Dewars has been the White Label, which I find to be pretty rough. I think Johnnie Black is a decent drink, so when I was gifted this, I was looking forward to trying the Dewars equivalent, regardless of my impression of the White Label. Nose: Orange peel/citrus and vanilla. Lime, papaya, grapefruit, and honeydew add some more tropical notes. Toffee. Apple tart and nougat. Apricot and pear. Soapy note—and not in a bad way. Light white pepper and cinnamon spice, though it’s very subtle. Palate: More of the lime, orange, and honeydew. Some lemon now. Caramel and vanilla. Cranberry. A note akin to one of those party mix butterscotch and some orange candy. Coca, black and white pepper, and cinnamon. The grain is prominent, but well-balanced by the fruit notes. Finish: Grapefruit lime, Sun-dried tomato. Cocoa, clove, nutmeg, red pepper, and cinnamon. Short to moderate finish, as you’d expect of a 40% whisky. I’m pleasantly surprised with this one. The jump from Johnnie Red to Johnnie Black is pretty substantial, so I guess it’s not a shock that the same can be said of Dewars White Label and The Ancestor. Great nose, good palate, decent finish. At $25, VFM is obviously going to give a significant boost to already enjoyable whisky. 3.75/5. This erases my previous opinion of Dewars. I will definitely be checking out the higher age statement offerings in the future.

Review #29 - Whisk(e)y #20 Colour - Deep copper Nose - Quite strong aromas, honey, vanilla, some oak spice, sweet, fresh fruit (red and yellow apples), oily and with some alcohol. Taste - Spicy with an underlying sweetness up front, grainy, oily on the backend with some malt and a touch of smoke. The spiciness is quite sharp yet rather short, and there are also fruit notes, as on the nose. Finish - Medium, dry and leathery, oaky, maybe with a touch of cocoa to it and a strong bitterness. I find the bitter note way too overpowering and taking away from the sweet and spicy taste. Adding a few drops of water brings out a different finish, with less bitterness (although it is still more subtly there) and brings out some dark fruit (figs) and raisins. Furthermore, it also brings out some more sweetness on the front end which is very pleasant. Compared to Chivas 12, the Dewar's 12 feels darker, with no herbal / green note, but also more bitter. I think drinking it with a few drops of water really makes it so much better and more pleasant, at least for my palate, also bring more of those sherry notes. On ice all the flavours are diminished and it brings forth a graininess and maltiness. Rating System: 5.0 - Legendary 4.5 - Exceptional 4.0 - Very Good 3.5 - Good 3.0 - Decent 2.5 - Average 2.0 - Below Average 1.5 - Barely Drinkable 1.0 - Undrinkable 0.5 - JB

Like Aberfeldy 12 this is a long standing resident of Pleasantville. Its much less refined obviously and I dont know why it even says 12 year on the bottle because we all know this is a mutt produced by a wild gangbang of dozens of whiskeys. Its decent. Its got some of the honey rich niceties of Aberfeldy but theres an unrefined roughness to it that I can only describe as Grandpa-ish. Not really cool-IDGAF grandpa, but more like the grandpa that has a mountain of the same beer can piled up in the garage and around the furnace where he tosses them crumpled upon completion and demands another. That guy. That guy is Dewars 12.

I have never been a big fan of Dewars, so I had pretty low expectations for their 12 year and while it was better than I thought, I still wouldnt go out of my way to have it again. The nose leads with smoke and orange peel and after a bit I get some dried fruit, maybe apricot. The first sip i get green apple and some light peat. It definitely is sweeter than expected. The finish has decent length, with a light burn, salt and spice. I can see this as an everyday dram, but I didnt find it all that interesting. At the cost, which isnt too bad, I would still stick to Johnnie Walker or Famous Grouse.

An elegant, Blended Scotch Whisky by Dewar's Distillery in Scotland that is a marriage of up to forty carefully selected 12-year-old malt & grain Scotch whiskies, that is then blended & aged for up to 6 months longer until the flavor unifies; by Dewar's Master Blender. It has a floral birth with notes of dark fruits, creamy flan, marzipan, honey & toasted grains; while a thick life adds notes of granola clusters with blackberries & almonds, hot buttered toast, anise & spicy smoke; that leads to a long & rich death with notes of roasted grains, copper & iron. October 2021 / August 2022

This was my first try at an aged Scotch, and a very approachable pour. On the nose I get a musty cereal note like honey nut Cheerios and ginger ale. On the palate I get sweetness up front like a dried apricot, which quickly transitions into candied ginger and pepper mid way through. On the back end there is some very lite oak and more pepper with an oily mouth feel. The finish is short to medium with a hint of orange zest and just a hint of smoke. All in all not a bad beginner Scotch and will be a reliable pour.