High Commissioner Blended Scotch

The best cheap Scotch I have found. Although cheaper than Glen Grant,Red Label, Famous Grouse etc. it doesn’t have that aggressive solvent quality which is tough on the stomach and the nose, by comparison. Next in line for me would be Black Label, which has a better alcohol quality and none of the bitterness, of which High Commissioner does suffer if you let it linger too long in your mouth, like any other cheap blend. I actually get bored of Black Label because it can, depending on the bottle, be quite bland, although smooth for the price, so I sometimes prefer this to it, believe it or not. It makes me chuckle when I read about tasting notes for any whisky in this price range because most of the taste is overshadowed by chemical and solvent fumes, this is especially true for the more available supermarket blends. One good thing about this Scotch is that, it doesn’t have that overwhelming sweetly cereal quality, like Glen Grant does, it tastes like a bland single malt, with a hint of grain alcohol bitterness , which overall, considering the price is quite ok, in my opinion

Nose: Generic, light whisky aromas. Nothing outstanding but nothing unpleasant. Palate: Sweet light cereal arrival, a little malt & fruit in the development but it is very slight. Again, well balanced with no significant problems. Finish: Short and nondescript. No bitterness or sourness. The best overall description for this is “inoffensive”. There is not much character to speak of, but we are talking about a bottom shelf blend and in context there is nothing to criticize. It avoids any overt ethanol intrusion and has a pleasant if restrained and pedestrian profile. It’s a mixer, pure and simple, and a serviceable, inexpensive one. In a pinch it can be enjoyed neat over ice. It's better than a lot of other bottom-shelf blends but overshadowed by a couple of competitors in the same price band – not the least Loch Lomond Reserve and Loch Lomond Original, from the same distillery. “Adequate” : 72/100 (2 stars)

Well, that’s one more nice blend from Loch Lomond distillery that I would definitely prefer to their basic single malts. Aroma is very-very light, sweet, honeyed, a bit spiritous and full of apples. Surprisingly it contains almost none of the grain notes to the nose so in a case if you’re drunk enough you can easily confuse it with a single malt. The taste is almost the same - very sweet, even sugary, creamy, light and gentle and full of brown sugar. Some apples again, also some butterscotch, creme-brûlée and dried apricots. It might seem quite plain, rushing through your tongue, but it’s pleasant. The aftertaste unveils its grain nature as it’s rather harsh and bitterish. High Commissioner differs a lot from the LL range but it’s to the better cause it has removed all the unpleasant damp and bitter notes that are typical to the core range.

Nose: Ethanol, malt and some distant peat and smoke but I could be mistaken as it so faint. Coloured blend. Taste of sweet malt and vanilla finishing in tart woody tannin but nicely balanced. For a cheap blend its nicely smooth and there are certainly worse to be had at this price point. It has a decent mouth feel and a touch of oil and a hint of salt and charcoal. 2.5 starts 86 points. Not bad at all if you are after a cheap blend.

Довольно кислый, будто ржи много осталось, необычно унылый в носе, от виски мало бурбонная ваниль и намеки на выпечку, забавно, но плоско и очень быстро сваливается в унылое потребление. Не посредственное, но даже не пытается тянутся до лучших

Smooth at the start with vanilla oak sweetness. The end is short with lip tingling spice