Welcome back to another thrilling tasting of two scotch whiskies, where I get to sip them side-by-side, compare the slight differences between them, take down these notes in real-time, then pick out a favourite and hopefully learn something new along the way. I usually write about single malts, but we have two blended scotch whiskies today. As a reminder, a blended whisky is a mix of grain [corn] and malt [barley] whiskies designed to provide a consistent experience to the consumer. But for me, the grain ethanol is just too rough on the palate, so I tend to stick to the malts. That means that I really don’t mind drinking a “blended malt whisky” [no grain alcohol here] once in a while. I have a lot more to say on that topic, but let’s kick off this tasting and put on the music! Now playing: Dronal – Internal Motion.

First up is a 12-year-old blended scotch produced by Inver House Distillers, who own and operate Balblair, Knockdhu, Pulteney, Speyburn, and Balmenach distilleries. That means that I am sure to find at least one, if not all, of these five spirits in this blend, which, apparently, was a favourite brand of Sir Winston Churchill. This dram appears courtesy of Cask Explorers’ 2022 Advent Calendar (Emerald Edition) from behind door number 11. The previous entry from the same source was Lord Elcho 15-year-old blended whisky, and I’ve said some words on that here. This tasting also comes on the heels of my trying some Japanese blended whiskies from Nikka and White Oak, which I have profiled here. So, yes, I’m in the blended whisky mood. Or, at least, I know what to expect here. To find the right contender for this blend, I decided to pull out my nearly full bottle of the Johnnie Walker Black Label, which is also 12 years old. I’ve tried this blended scotch on more than one occasion, and frankly, I hated it every time. I even compared it to the same blend produced in the 1980s, and guess what? It tasted absolutely foul relative to its ancestor. So what was wrong with it, and was I setting up this tasting to be a failure from the start? For a while, I had a lingering hunch that, for some reason, my bottle, which I bought at Tesco supermarket, was of sub-par quality. So this afternoon, I went out and bought another miniature Black Label, which came as part of a Taster Set and then had a tiny sip, comparing it to my supermarket-grade blend. And… guess what again? It was entirely different! It tasted so much better! What is going on here? Is Diageo purposely exporting lower-quality batches to cheap supermarkets where it won’t matter? So many questions on this topic! Perhaps I will return to this again. But for now, all you need to know is that I’m comparing the Hankey Bannister against the better version of the Johnnie Walker Black Label. So here we go!

Both of the whiskies are bottled at 40% ABV. Both of them are coloured and chill-filtered, so neither one of them gets my “integrity star” as an award for presenting the whisky as it’s supposed to be. But then again, it’s what we should expect from the blends. The 70cl bottle of the Hankey Bannister 12-year-old Regency goes for about £32, while the Johnnie Walker Black Label 12-year-old is sold for £2 less, at £30. So, really, the price should not be the differentiating factor either. Let’s try and nose these two. The Hankey Bannister smells sweeter and softer, with some caramel and toffee. This could be easily attributed to the fact that this blend was aged exclusively in ex-bourbon casks. The Johnnie Walker is a little darker, maybe with a very light hint of smoke, which I interpret here as old cardboard. I sense an echo of a sherried malt, but it is overshadowed by the grain. Let’s go in for a taste! Wow, the Hankey Bannister is soft! I almost taste no grain in here until the very, very end. It’s pretty light and sweet and easy on the palate. I definitely could down this in a single gulp. Let’s try the [newer] Johnnie Walker. It’s “crispier” and sharper, but that terrible ethanol I perceived in previous batches is definitely not there. There is a hint of smoke now, then a bite of alcohol in the finish. Again, it’s much, much better than the Tesco Johnnie Walker I have had, which seems to fall off the cliff in the finish with its dry ethanol burn. Usually, at this point of the tasting, I’d add a drop of water to both drams, but with these whiskies being at the lowest possible ABV of 40%, I do not need to do that. So, let’s go for another round. There are more bananas now in the Hankey Bannister and possibly stewed fruit. It’s slightly rounder and smoother than the Johnnie Walker. That’s not to say that Johnnie Walker arrives a little rough – it just has sharper edges, which could well appeal to whisky drinkers. Especially if you make a cocktail with it.

Name / Style	Hankey Bannister / Blended Scotch Whisky	Johnnie Walker / Blended Scotch Whisky
Producer	Inver House	Diageo
Stated Age	12 years old	12 years old
Cask type	Exclusively ex-bourbon	Various
ABV / Cask Strength	40.0% / Nope	40.0% / Nope
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	No / No	No / No
Price	£32	£30
Did it win? / Did I like it?	Yes / Yes, I actually did	No / Nope, I still don’t like it
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	No / Yes, definitely over Johnnie Black	No / No, really

So there you have it, folks, another thrilling tasting. I did learn something today! I knew about batch variation before, but this is pretty staggering – the difference between my Tesco bottle of the same Johnnie Walker Black Label and the little 50cl bottle from the Taster Set is night and day. Really. I can go on and say a lot of things about that, but draw your own conclusions. I’m also pleasantly surprised by the Hankey Bannister, especially since I have never heard of it before. Have you? I don’t think that I’ll be running out and buying a bottle – as I have said before, there are plenty of [better] single malts to try at about the same price point. I’d drink the Ardmore Legacy (£26), Loch Lomond Original (£27), or Jura Bourbon Cask (£28), or even Bowmore No. 1 (£31) before a blended Scotch. Even a 10-year-old Speyburn, which is one of the components in the Hankey Bannister, is sold as a single malt for the same price of £32. But do not let me tell you how you should enjoy your whisky. Perhaps you like your blended scotch. And with that said, I’ll pause here and proclaim the Hankey Bannister 12-year-old as the winner of this round.