Getting Creative: Vattings

Laphroaig Triple Wood and Ardbeg Alligator: 50 / 50. Both bottles were at about 1/4 full when I blended them and had been open for about 2-3 months. The resulting mix is banging. Maybe better that either were individually! First smell is like a melted coke float. French Vanilla ice cream and cola. NOT root beer. Alderwood smoked salt. Then comes the Laphroaig, but sweeter. Mouthwatering, salty - sweet, sucking on salty almonds. Long burning finish. These two whiskies compliment each other so freaking well!

This is a fun game. Talisker 10 with Talisker DE to bring down the sherry influence a bit is good. I like the Laphroaig 10 and QC at a 50/50 mix. Haven't tried too many others but am definitely into trying some more in short order.

Brilliant suggestion for discussion!

In younger years, my personal blending in a glass was based upon specific gravity in an attempt to create attractive offerings. Now it is all about taste.
Jura Superstition (free pour 50/50) with Domenis Stravecchia Grappa 50% abv. Grappa is Italian grape spirit, made from distilled grape pomace.
This aged grappa (18 months) is from highly acclaimed producer Domenis - amazingly complex with an incredibly long finish. Outstanding. On the nose - the influence of 18 months in oak yields a bouquet of honey, vanilla, and oats. In the mouth white pepper, sweet citrus, fresh plums, green cardamom, and cloves. Much more complex than the Jura Superstition.
Jura Superstition promises so much when nosed, yet doesn't deliver on that promise when tasted. That all changes when these two are introduced in the same glass. The Domenis Stravecchia Grappa breathes life into this single malt and creates an infusion that screams Big and Bold - peat, smoke, salt, and heather are amplified. The beautiful, spicy nose of the Jura is diminished while the palate becomes so much more complex with a melange of flavour and texture. This delightful experiment has come to an end as the 500ml bottle of grappa could not outlast the 750 ml bottle of malt. Would I do it again? Absolutely!

@Onibubba: Sounds like a winner! How long do you give the vatting to properly marry? I seem to get a much better result when the mix is allowed a week or so to come together.

Slainte!

@A'bunadhman Afraid I have been going the more expedient route. I was given a vinturi spirits aerator this past christmas, and have been using it quite a bit. I pour a half measure of each into the aerator and let the whole thing woosh into the glass. Does it have the same effect as a proper vatting? Probably not. Looks cool though!

@lostboyscout I've played with various Talisker bottlings this way too. I love the nose on the 10YO, but want the complexities of the 18YO.

I once vatted Glen Breton Rare 10yo (canadian single malt) with Glen Breton Ice 17, Glenfiddich 12, Glen Elgin 12, and Laphroaig QC, in a ratio of approximately 2:4:2:1:2 respectively.

It was bloody awful.....

I wonder what a Talisker/Ardbeg/Laphroaig 10 year mix would taste like. Maybe they'd all get into a fight and end up coming out like Bowmore.

Last Sunday, I went out on a limb and blended the last two finger's breadths of a bottle of Highland Park 12 with Caol Ila and a dash of filtered water. I let this comingle in a small bottle for five or six hours before the Superbowl began.

The resulting single malt blend was not a "cracking dram" as they say, but it was quite decent with a good full mouth feel and a pleasantly complex finish that surprised me almost as much as that power outage in the middle of the game.

If I'd known it would be so good, I would have let it comingle for days rather than hours. I just was not expected such a smashing finish and palette on it. Really superb.

'Have a BNJ. open; an excellent 'drop' but just a little light and at 40% abv. noticeably thin, so... 'Went for a scratch around in the deepest recesses of the Cabinet and turned up a small sample bot. with about 100ml. of Bruichladdich (tagged 'B', Links), which one? The one with a subtle nose, great body and a resounding finish: I really don't remember which!

Anyway, stuck them together in about a 50/50 mix and surprise, surprise; a rather decent blend where one Whisky compliments the other - Well, there's a first time for everything! For the most part my Whisky blending has been dismal: Due, perhaps, to my not having a clue what I'm doing, I usually detract from the better 'drop' - This time it worked!

Slainte!

@Victor I got creative with some remnants of opened bottles. I call my creation Redbreasted Pultneney Dalmore Dew and it's 12 minutes old. :)

Aberlour 12 unchillfiltered vats very nicely with Old Pulteney 12. Three quarters OP, one quarter AUCF. i've found that the Aberlour really does spruce up less expensive single malts nicely, especially the OP12. Works great for a daily dram type scenario. It doesn't even need very long to make for a classy single malt blend. Cheers, brothers and sisters.

I was never mixing my own blends/vattings but I guess I will go for it in the future. Nice to read your suggestions. Also very interesting to read is following article by David Driscoll. Also nice historic infos

spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spiri…

My first blend was better than the sum of its parts.

I had a long opened Aberlour 18 year old. I found it pretty much undrinkable. So I mixed it with A'Bunadh batch 38 ( my least favourite batch), in equal parts. To that I added the end of my Dalwhinnie bottle (about 50% of the final product). I let it sit about 2 weeks then tried it and it was quite good. I then added half a sample bottle of glenlivet 12, and a few weeks later we opened with that at a Whisky club meeting.

It was highly rated. I would do it again but I don't plan to open my non-A'Bunadh Aberlours for a long time, and I don't intend to buy Dalwhinnie again (smells ok but not a craft product).

@Wills sorry about the minus I enjoyed the read but fat fingers gave it a minus...

This is not an original idea but I find that Glenmorangie and Glenfiddich with a splash of Ardbeg 10 comes to be a great summertime mix

@Nolinske, I am surmising that you are referring to blending the base malts Glenmorangie Original and Glenfiddich 12 with the Ardbeg 10, right? Sounds very refreshing, really. Throw some orange and ice in there and you'd have a summer cocktail.

My single serious blending experience was a surprising success. Surprising, because I wasn't happy with any of the malts that went into it, mostly leftover stuff.

The A'Bunadh 38 was spirits and less flavourful than others, the Aberlour 18 was old and had become bitter. The same for the Dalwhinnie 15 that had originally smelled good but never tasted extra special. I put in about 50 % Dalwhinnie and then topped up with the other two. Later I added the remains of a glenlivet 12 sample bottle I had opened for someone.

I let them marry for a couple of weeks and what came out was surprisingly drinkable. We even tried it at our Whisky club with positive reviews.

My first vatting was my "Gledr-Ila-nd Park 10yo", similar to Rigmorole's HP 12 / CI 12. The rational behind the vatting was that the Highland Park 10yo was a beautiful dram, but the finish was rather short. To remedy this, I married 7:2:1 of Highland Park 10yo, Caol Ila 12yo and Glendronach 12yo. The result was a dram that is a lot like the HP 10, but with some citrusy smoky notes from the Caol Ila, and some slightly amped up ABV (40.9%). The Caol Ila shows up in the background of the nose, and extends out the finish, as intended (what a rarity!). There is a touch of sherry from the Glendronach in there, but I'm not sure the Glendronach adds anything more than viscosity. I'd say 75/25 (HP/CI), if I were to do it again.

My second vatting is a rather "devil's punchbowl" mix (HP 10yo, Glendronach 12yo, Caol Ila 12, Auchentoshan Valinch, 45/25/15/15, 43.8% ABV), and it's not quite done vatting yet. The whiskies are still reasonably separately identifiable in the nose at the moment. Another couple weeks, and we'll see.

I am currently enjoying one right now: about equal parts of Glendronach 21 YO, Nikka from the Barrel, Glenfarclas 105, Glenfiddich 15 Distillery Edition and Auchentoshan Three Wood, married for a few months in a standard bottle. Very sherried as you can imagine with the Glenfiddich adding a bourbon dimension.

Tried vatting sherried malts with Ron Zacapa and Martell XO before but these didn't come out well.

@paddockjudge, a little while back I tried vatting a grappa with a whisky at my sister's house. It was astonishingly good...I was totally amazed. I don't remember either of the components at this moment. Maybe when I get over to her place again I can figure it out.

Kentucky Vintage (50% share; the oakiest whisk(e)y I have ever owned), Elijah Craig 12 yo (33% share; a 5 year opened bottle), Eagle Rare 10 SB (10% share; a 4 year opened bottle), and Basil Hayden's (7% share; a 5 year opened bottle). This is a collection bottle for old bourbons, which turned out better than any of its parts are alone, at this point. The biggest suprise? The nose is really very good.

Just tried a three way: Springbank 14 Fino/Laphroaig cask strength 005/Amrut fusion. Came out shockingly well. The PC6 and Amrut were old and flat and the Sprinbank Fino perked them up and united the SM blend. Very tasty

Last month I mixed white truffle essence with a stale Old Pulteney and some fresh Springbank 10 and Talisker 10. It was delicious. So good, I made another batch. Very "farmy" with a touch of the sea. Reminded me of a few old Clynelishes from years gone by that I liked so much

The truffle infused vatting also reminded me of a few Broras I've tasted

As soon as I have an available miniature bottle (currently drying ), I will try a vatting of 15 cc FC Heart of Gold and 15 cc FC Portwood reserve. Will the HoG lift the portwood, or the Portwood drag down the HoG, or will the PoGWood rise to new heights?

My first vatting was all malts, as was my second, and both were successful. Let's see how this goes...

Yamazaki 12yo and Yoichi 15yo. The Yamazaki makes the Yoichi a bit more hedonistic, and conversely, the Yoichi adds depth to the Yamazaki.

Perhaps a little 'off topic' my latest 'disaster' was a blending of 3 parts W/T 43.4% with 2 parts Teeling's Poitin 61.5% - What I had in mind was cranking the W/T up to 101 strength. Thank goodness I made a small amount as I ruined two perfectly good Whiskies.

Cheers.

Old Weller Blends, kinda cool: bourbonr.com/blog/poor-mans-pappy/. And, yes, the goal is to duplicate a little "Pappy's magic" for a fraction of the price. Good luck finding the 12. If you happen across it in the store, snatch it up if you like PVW 12. It's not usually as good, but it's pretty close depending on what's in YOUR bottle.

I am again experimenting with ways to improve some old air-damaged whiskies. Tonight's project: a vatting of 50% Macallan 10 yo Fine Oak, 40% Glenrothes Select Reserve, with 6% Macallan Cask Strength and 4% Bacardi Reserve Rum. All of these spirits are from very long opened bottles. It is an improvement, and the result is definitely more drinkable than the parts.

Laphroaig 005 and Springbank 10. four parts Sprinbank and one part 005. 5:1 ratio. Add water to taste. Delicious!