Haig Club Single Grain

Never having had a single grain, I approached this sample from my gift set with mild interest, but reading that it is made mostly from wheat set my expectations fairly low. I knew it likely wouldn't compare well to a single malt, and it didn't. It also didn't have a character anywhere close to a wheated bourbon, despite being aged in ex-bourbon barrels. Very light and thin looking in the glass, with no legs on swirling. The nose yielded honey and apple cider with a faint hint of citrus and vanilla. On the palate, it was honey sweet with a flavor akin to eating a biscuit with a cup of black tea. Very light with a thin mouth feel. A little bitter on the finish, which was very short. In all, very light (some might say "smooth") and inoffensive. Also, just not that interesting. I looked it up and saw that it can be purchased in my area for US $59.99. I can think of much better uses for 60 bucks, as there are many good single malts, bourbons and ryes to be had for that.

Rather than piling on I'll offer a suggestion for how to use this: mix it 3:1:1 with Cointreau and amaretto, serve up with an orange rind to garnish. It produces a fine cocktail. I agree it's not a sipping whisky (perhaps not even a whisky at all). But if it's on discount (and I got it at a pretty steep discount that brought it down to around $30), it's a fair mixer! Here's another odd scent note: when I poured a little of this and had it with a cigar, the aroma was a dead ringer for chocolate ice cream, so much so that it was a little eerie. So there is some nice quality hiding in this scotch, and I'd be intrigued to try a version that is aged a little longer and not rolled out to the market with this over-the-top, Beckham-fueled marketing hype.

I'm not sure they should call this a single grain scotch. I honestly think this was just meant to trick vodka drinkers into trying scotch. The fact that the bottle costs more than $40 in most places, if not $50, is absurd. The first time I nosed this I got nothing, but on a second pass I noticed faint hints of vanilla and lemon. The palate was very bare bones and almost tasted like a grain vodka, with a touch of bitterness. It was completely unremarkable. The finish had a light burn and very quickly faded. This is clearly a whisky meant for vodka drinkers and while I appreciate trying to get a new audience to try scotch, this is about as boring as it gets. Avoid this.

Presented in an over-sized cologne bottle. Nose opens alarmingly sweet and buttery, with pronounced acetone and magic marker. Some rice wine swirling beneath the chemical layers, and a hint of burning nitrile rubber. Palate is all cheap honey, sweet, grainy and slightly sour. Abrubt yet gentle enough finish, something like plywood resin lingers. An "interesting" dram (in a rather bad way). Sampled at a casual tasting party, someone received this as a gift, via store-clerk recommendation (never, ever listen to the store-clerk). Pure marketing fodder for the uninformed masses. Dry glass: almost nothing! Very strange...

Not "Scotch," not "blended Scotch," but rather a good quality grain whisky that usually would be used in blending. It is smooth and has butterscotch overtones---and that is it. It is bottled in an impressive blue decanter style bottle to put on a good show, but show is all it is. When first released in my area of midwest USA most stores were pricing it at $60-$80 a bottle. Now they are clearing them out at $19-$25 a bottle. If you don't like whisky, but feel compelled to drink some for some reason, this may be for you. Go stand next to that apple-pie vodka swilling teenager!

It drinks like a Japanese whiskey with very soft, flowery grain and cereal notes. Lots of toffee and melted vanilla ice cream. Banana dipped in honey. The finish is very slight oak, coconut, and ginger but nothing special. Exhale the finish and there's something really off. Overall, it's not a bad sip if you're looking for a very mellow, sweet easy drinker. The first half of a sip is pretty good, the second half is pretty bad.