Welcome back to another side-by-side tasting, where I try two whiskies and see which one I like and, more importantly, why. This is how I learn, folks, and I hope you’ll learn along with me. Up for a sip is the 8th dram from Cask Explorer’s 2022 Advent Calendar (Emerald Edition). I know, it’s May, and I’m only on the 8th sample out of 24! And that’s okay. I’ll take them as they come. In any case, this is an eight-year-old blended whisky from Ian Macleod called the Isle of Skye, which, as you may have already guessed, is [mostly?] based around Island whisky [Talisker?] and rounded off with other malt and grain whiskies from Speyside. I don’t have another Island blended whisky, and so I pair it with a Highland blended malt, created by Douglas Laing, called Timorous Beastie. I’ll also sip a bit of Johnnie Walker Black Label on the side to compare the Isle of Skye with, and maybe even Teacher’s Highland Cream to see where these two land. Deal? Well, let’s get to it! But first, we need music! Now playing: Jon Hopkins – Singularity.

Ian Macleod Distillers owns a few of my favourite distilleries, including Tamdhu, Glengoyne and Rosebank. They also produce a delicious Islay Single Malt, which they call Smokehead, from an undisclosed distillery (or maybe even more than one). As I browse my stash, I find another 5cl bottle of Macleod’s Isle of Skye, but this one is a miniature bottle from the 90s, which I won at an auction [because why the heck not], and I’ll put it aside for a little sip a bit later in the tasting. In any case, I can tell the difference in colour between the two, and the most recent edition is a lot darker, as if it has a bunch of sherried malt in it, but this I barely distinguish on the nose, and therefore, I will attribute to the added spirit caramel, aka E150A. It’s also certainly chill-filtered and bottled at the minimum possible 40% ABV. But then again, so is Johnnie Walker. Perhaps I should have really paired it with the latter blend, but honestly, I just did not want to drink Black Label any longer. It’s just so acrid to my palette – at least the current cheaply-made release. Okay, you know what? I’ll sip the Johnnie Walker first! And there it is – a thin and sharp arrival with no finish. It comes and goes like an unwanted guest. Forget it. Let’s go back and try the Isle of Skye now. It’s definitely thicker, even at the same per cent. The finish’s very short, but it is not a cliff dive, like Black Label’s household cleaner. It’s sweeter, and I do not really sense the smoke [but then again, the Johnnie Walker killed my taste buds]. I pour whatever’s left of Johnnie Walker in the toilet (I really do) and try a little of the 90s blend to see how it compares. Whoah, this is even worse! It’s like an old and dead cologne! I won’t be drinking that again, that I am sure of. I think it’s very possible that I got a fake miniature bottle from that auction. Well, out it goes into the trash. Sigh.

Okay, let’s try and see what Douglas Laing has bottled for their entry. I really like this Remarkable Regional Malts series, which also includes Scallywag, Rock Island, and my all-time favourite, Big Peat, which I have hoarded now in all its fun editions. There’s also The Epicurean and The Gauldrons, which I have never tried. Now back to Timorous Beastie. This is a blended malt, so there are no grain whiskies here. The label states that it’s “traditional and non-chill filtered” and also that it’s “vatted with a real heather honey & highland character.” Other sources reveal that this blended malt includes Dalmore, Glengoyne and Glen Garioch, and when I taste it, I can surely tell the grade of whiskies right away. Even if the colour of this dram is near as light as white wine, the heathery sweetness and a hint of bananas really come through and round it off with thick umami and a nice medium-length finish. It’s also bottled at a higher 46.8% ABV which explains why the flavour is delivered better. I go back to the Isle of Skye to finish off the dram, and no, I still don’t taste the Islands [nor any Talisker] – just a bitter afterburn of grain. I couldn’t even finish the very few last drops in my Glencairn. I pour myself a bit of Teacher’s in the glass now, just for fun. And even though it’s also a blended Scotch (with grain spirit in the mix), it is much smoother, rounder, and actually well-flavoured. This tasting’s definitely going off the rails as I type. I’m going to take a little break, sip on some water, breathe in some London air, and come back to see if the Beastie can stand out on its own. Let’s see now. Yes, next to the Highland Cream, it has a real aroma. And it has substance in delivery and taste. The few extra pounds spent on this bottle undoubtedly pay off.

Distillery / Region	Various / Island	Various / Highland
Bottler	Ian Macleod	Douglas Laing
Stated Age	8 years old	NAS
ABV	40%	46.8%
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	No / No	Yes / Yes 🌟
Price	£21	£36
Did it win? / Did I like it?	No / No	Yes / Yes – a wonderfully blended malt!
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	No / No – don’t waste your money	Yes / Yes – a great value for the money!

So there you have it, folks. I’ll say a quirky tasting. I went through ups and downs all along. I’ll say that Johnnie Black and whatever horror I have had inside that 90s bottle were undrinkable at best. The Isle of Sky was rather poor and worse than the cheaper Highland Cream. It had a bitter and unmemorable finish unless this memory is now preserved with all these words. The blended malt picks up the prize, hands down, even without the age statement. It almost tastes like single malt, and that’s the highest praise that I can give the maker. And to be honest, in a pure, unbiased fashion, I haven’t had a bad experience with Douglas Laing. And with that said, I will proclaim Timorous Beastie as the winner of this round [by a long stretch!]. And now, I will go off and ponder on the things I’ve learned again…

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p.s. I was a little disappointed in this tasting. Especially because I was not especially impressed with such a low-grade quality dram from Cast Explorer’s Advent Calendar. The distiller’s website boasts that Jim Murray has called the Isle of Skye a “superstar whisky”. Indeed, I checked my 2021 copy of the Whisky Bible, and he gave it a score of 94. I don’t know what he was smoking drinking that day. But then again, he rated Johnny Walker Black Label at 95. Perhaps another time, another bottling. I’m also starting to wonder if, perhaps, my Tesco bottle of Black Label was explicitly exported to be shite. Nevertheless… I am thankful for the opportunity to taste this. I would not have gone out and tried it anywhere else. So it has served its purpose once again, and then, my words here document this journey. On another note, I’m thinking of checking out a Timorous Beastie with an age statement. There is a 20-year-old I spied for £100.