Average score from 6 reviews and 7 ratings 75
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An intense orangish to amber pour. Aroma is quite sweet: crème brûlée, vanilla, ripe banana, even sweet potato (oh yeah! Never found that one in a whisky before.) Soft and sweet as you start. Mellowy sip. Long-lasting finish with tinges of orange peel. I know, I know, it's ultra-industrial and mainstream and full to the brim with sweet scents, yes, but I found it interesting. Good? I said interesting.
I'm amazed I've never reviewed any Dewar's here, but then again I've only really had the 18 Year Old (at a bar in NYC) and the Signature (at Whisky Live in Toronto one year). I've never even tried the ubiquitous White Lable. Oh, and I did review Aberfeldy 12 Year Old, which is the heart of Dewar's and where you can find the Dewar World of Whisky visitor centre at their distillery (I've never been).
Besides Aberfeldy, Dewar's also has Aultmore, Craigellachie, Royal Brackla and Macduff, among others I am sure. John Dewar started the business in 1846 and would marry the blended whiskies in oak to better integrate the flavours, which wasn't really done at that time. Dewar's has a Royal Warrant (supplying the monarchy with the booze for over 100 years) and was bought by Bacardi in 1988, who have done a good job of rebranding the whiskies in their stable. The 12 Year Old is now called "The Ancestor", apparently after John Dewar; and no, I don't understand that either. This bottle was a birthday present from my brother, and has been open for about 3 months.
The colour is honey-gold. On the nose this is quite fruity, with orange, kiwi, papaya, lime and peach, all intermingling. Burnt toffee. Exotic spices like tumeric and saffron, and the faintest hint of peat. With water the citrus brightens up, and the peat steps forward a bit. Very nice.
On the palate, more orange shows up (and a bit more peat) but it's mostly caramel and citrus, with some baking spices (nutmeg, cinnamon). Water helps keep everything integrated. Not bad but not as complex as the nose.
The long finish is spicy with anise, followed by bitter oak and dried fruit. For me, the nose is the highlight, and becomes a bit of a letdown by the time the finish arrives. Still, not a bad premium scotch at the right price point.
Interesting - I too have an old Chivas 12 (bottled I think in the 1980s but I'm not 100% sure). I haven't reviewed it yet as I was waiting to do a side-by-side of the current bottling. I have tasted it though - like the Dewar's 12, good but not great.
Yes, @talexander, it is good that some of us are willing to review blended Scotch. Considering the huge numbers of them on the market, more reviews of them would be helpful.
After The Ancestor, what do we see? The Heir, The Step-Child, and The Bastard? Dewars White Label can be the Step-Child. The Step-Child can be really good or really bad, depending on the individual (batch). Most of the recently born Step-Children seem to be not-so-good, but I did meet a good one once.
While waiting the 50 minutes in the lobby before being admitted to the Last Great Malts of Scotland (2 nights ago) I was offered a modest dram of this 12 year old blend. We were told "only one per person"...that was plenty for me. Given the delays in starting the event, I had plenty of time to write some notes on a clean palate. Not as extensive as a normal review but here goes...
The bottle was probably opened the day of the event and the air time was likely between 10-30 minutes. No water was added to this dram served at the "high" ABV of 40%.
Nose: Sweet, fruity. A touch of spice and honey. Not very complex but pleasant. 21/25
Taste: Smooth, slight ethanol nip, sweet with some spiciness. Not intriguing. 20/25
Finish: medium, slightly bitter, forgettable. 19/25
Balance: Smooth, forgettable, nose is nicer than the palate. 20/25
Score: 80/100
I'm admittedly not big on blends. Many of them are underpowered at 40%. I've had a few that weren't too bad, but they were either at a higher strength (Cutty Sark Prohibition) or malt blends (JW Green), or both (Peat Monster).
I called this a Throwaway review because it was quick and simple, but also because it described what I did with the second half of my dram...
@Nozinan. I'm not much of a blend drinker either, but sometimes, like on long flights, that's all that's available. You can usually get JW Black in those situations and I find it quite drinkable. I thought I might try the Dewars 12 sometime, but I'll take heed of your experience and continue to give it a miss. So much Scotch, so little time. Best not to waste it on dubious drams. Cheers.
NOSE: having just opened the bottle I got marzipan, slight peat, toffee and vanilla. With a drop of water peat drowns altogether, leaving vanilla and creamy fruits.
TASTE: somewhat reminds me of Glenfarclas 10 with its syrupy barley malt, very distant smoke.
FINISH: short and sweet with a hint of cola.
Nope) jw black does it every time for me)
thanks for the tip.
Im just looking for a JW black replacement since i'm trying to avoid counterfeit bottles in my side of the planet
One would think that a very popular 12 year old scotch blend such as Dewar's would be a bargain at $30. Guess what? I paid too much because it will get slowly donated to my neighbor to mix with Coca Cola. Now I know why I never order Dewar's White Label in the Superdome watching Saint's games. No more Dewars for me! Not only does it taste like cleaning fluid, it also brings on the nightmares, which tells me that there are still impurities that lie within. And no, I will not try another bottle.
Newkophile: Thanks for reminding about this review and I wound up lowering the score to a "9" because only a few drams got both my neighbor and myself extremely ill. I wound up pouring the last 8-10 ounces down the drain. Maybe I got a very bad bottle, but I will never touch Dewars again as long as I live. Johnnie Walker is almost as bad and they have their loyal drinkers buffaloed. For good cheap blends, try Black Bottle or Ballantines. However, I am now spoiled by single malts that have NO GRAIN ALCOHOL. No telling what ruined that bottle of Dewars and I don't want to know.
Wow a "9" as if a "30" rating wasn't horrible enough. I can only think that you must have purchased a bad bottle because while I have never tasted cleaning fluid, the bottle I own and have been drinking from does not in any way elicit that reaction from my taste buds. While any reviewer's recommendations cannot be taken strictly on faith, I note here that Dewar's 12 is one of the whiskies positively suggested in Ian Buxton's excellent book, 101 WORLD WHISKIES TO TRY BEFORE YOU DIE.
Warm smooth sweet malty vanilla arrival steady vegetable middle to a fast non complex pleasant finish.
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