Getting Creative: Vattings

@Nozinan, has @paddockjudge's recipe for replicating Wiser's Legacy changed? I invite @paddockjudge to post his excellent recipe on this discussion. It is already posted elsewhere on this site, but I am not sure where. I know the component parts, but I do not remember the exact proportions. I've done that Wiser's Legacy blending exercise with him at least 3 times and I never get tired of it. It works so very well.

@Rantavahti , don't feel like you have to be bold to blend some malts. It's just whisky! Have fun with it.

@Ol_Jas I know. Bold was poor choice of words. Just haven't had the need to blend malts together. Usually I start blendin if something really needs to be blended. Tasting whisky should always be progressive, experimental and fun.

@Rantavahti , roger that.

Talk of dumping whiskies together* often brings out the "sanctity of single malts shall not be violated" notion that some people have, so I tend to jump on any statement along those lines. I love all the tradition and craftsmanship that goes into whisky, but in the end it's a drink my glass that I should enjoy, so I do whatever helps me enjoy it. Often—very often, even—that includes blending some stuff in my glass. (My favorite move, which I'm sure I've mentioned elsewhere on this site if not in this very thread, is tossing some A'bunadh into anything that's too sharp, like too-young peaters.)

Like you say, a home blend is often the answer to something that's underperforming in some way.

*phrasing deliberately chosen to be irreverent

@Ol_Jas Funny, that was just my last experiment... Peat monster and A'Bunadh...

@Ol_Jas Sounds good and logical. Have to try something nicely sherried next time with a sharp peated one...

Wiser's Legacy Doppelgänger.

@Victor, @Nozinan, as you both know, this exercise is a lot of fun. It is also a great teaching tool. I never tire of sharing this with the novice or the experienced whisky fan.

Legacy is not a 'standard' Canadian 'Rye' blend. The proportional composition is somewhat heavily weighted in the rye whisky component of this spectacular blend, approximately 33%, much more than any standard blend I can think of. Barley in the 2 - 5% range and the balance (remainder), which is the base, the platform upon which this particular Canadian expression is carried, is a combination of column still and pot distilled corn whisky...and bottled at 90 pf.

• 7.5 ml Lot No.40 Rye 43% abv (100% rye)

• 15 ml Highwood Ninety 45% abv (100% corn)

• 1 ml Deanston Virgin Oak 46% abv (single malt)

Here is the post I found, there are others. connosr.com/wisers-legacy-whisky-review-94…

Just reposting this comment to this thread so I can refer to it in the future:

My last 25 cc each of Amrut Portonova and Intermediate Sherry have seen better days. Opened around 2013 and decanted the same year.... they are not as fabulous as they were when opened.

So today, on a whim, I combined the 2 heels into one bottle, 1 to 1, and it fit perfectly...not even a tiny air bubble. We'll let it marry for a while and see what happens when port meets sherry.

Trying my Amrut Intermediate Portosherry blend. It's neither IS nor Portonova. Quite an interesting dram. I gassed the sample bottle which still has 2/3 of the blend left. Tonight is for enjoyment, and I'll analyse the results at a later date.

So almost a month now since I married the Amrut Intermediate PortoSherry Nova and tonight I'm having the second of 3 measures (first one was a few days after).

Nose is very nice, kind of half sherry and have port (funny enough). the Modified Ashok Manoeuvre brings out a fantastic nose and also a pleasant taste. But in the taste I think I can tell that these were heels thrown together. I'd love to try this with 2 freshly opened bottles of IS and Portonova.

Of note, water (a few drops) opens it nicely.

Half an hour later - really enjoying this blended single malt. It would probably score 89-90. not bad for 2 heels mixed together, married and slightly warmed.

@Nozinan "2 heels mixed together, married and slightly warmed." Sounds like a friend of mine and his first wife.

Yamazaki 12 with a dash of Caol Ila

@BlueNote with friends like that...

Excellent, @BlueNote. Excellent.

@Nozinan 2 freshly (reasonably fresh?) opened bottles, hmm I will give that a try

@Astroke Let me know what you think. These two had been decanted a LONG time ago and opened back in like 2012 and 2013 or something. I find Amruts taste best within a year of opening even if gassed. But I'm not usually able to drink them that quickly.

@Nozinan My last bottle of IS lasted 1 year but I did pull several samples out of it. The current bottle has been opened for a week with 1 pour out of it and the Portnova, 1 month with 2 pours and a sample out. I will blend them tonight for a week or so.

In an effort to reduce little bottles part filled to shlep over to the new house, I've poured the last third of my IS/Portonova blend. Still quite delicious. A good way to refresh two tired heels...

@Nozinan My IS/Portnova is still cooking but I look forward to it. I just made a complete batch of poor mans pappy as the OWA 107 showed up at the LCBO and I grabbed a bottle. Used up 40% of my last Weller 12, but the blend is much better.

I just finished a bottle of my own personal four roses blend. The bottle was made from four different single barrel recipes. Two were high rye, two low rye and all 4 with a different yeast. The result was superior to the blended components and I've really enjoyed this experiment. I started by reviewing each of the four bottles and then went to work blending. After about 5 iterations I was satisfied and made a full bottle. The biggest change was a heavy caramel and bread pudding sweetness on the nose that was not present in any of the component bourbons. The taste and finish contained the best aspects of the components and removed the burn present in several of the bottles. I'd rate the bottle around an 88. I plan to make a bookers blend from my stock of 2015 bottles next.

Tonight I start with some HP Dark Origin, but it is an under average bottle, too heavy on the low notes, so I add some Sazerac Rye to get more wood and spices. It was not there yet. it was missing some light sweet fruity notes. So I add some Jameson Caskmates. Now, on the nose I have the three components. On the palate, I have more mint than any of its parts has and the low notes are more vegetal and complex. Another fun experiment.

Tonight, I am mixing HP Dark Origins with some Maker's 46 first. I wanted to see how the wheat would mix. It is good but too much bitterness is coming out. Instead pf covering this bitter note with something sweeter, I decided to give a note that will go along with it, I decided to add Knob Creek Rye with is nutty flavor. This vatting is very different form the one I did yesterday. It is bolder with more alcohol burn. There is more red fruit and apple redskin. It feels younger but with kind of an appealing harshness.

I am very happy with the way I dealt with this bitter note. I find that doing those crazy vattings help me to better understand whisky, mixing flavors and balance. Don't take it too seriously and have fun.

Russell's Reserve 6 yo Rye with Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, about 50:50, though 60:40 might be even better. I have a nearly 10 years open bottle of Russell's Reserve Rye which is still good but has gotten a little flaccid after all of these years. The CRNHR jazzed up and improved the nose considerably and the Russell's Reserve diluted out on the palate most of the undesirable qualities of the CRNHR. A successful vatting, improving on both constituent parts.

Follow up Victor's comment, I did another creative mixing. This time I went "industrialized". There are about 40% left in my Laphroaig PX Cask (DF store version). I filled up most of bottle cavity with Jameson, top up with Corryvreckan for extra flavor. And it worked!

My problem with Laphroaig PX Cask is that, while it's totally OK dram by itself, it's just bit too thick and one dimensional. My goal is to improving the complexity and thinning the peat a bit. In a simplified way Jameson worked as great filler lightened up the body considerably, Corryvreckan provided much needed highlight to make this new dram more interesting.

Now I think I will go through the new bottle much faster. My formular: 40% Laphroaig PX Cask, 50% Jameson, 10% Corryvreckan. Let me know what you think. Cheers!

connosr.com/old-style-teachers-recipe-any-…

Having let my 'blend' sit for 10 days or so I tried it over the weekend. It's coming together nicely; very smokey but rich, earthy smoke (@riks - you may well like Ardmore?), and some nice subtle sweetness. The Talisker 18 has done wonders. Not a huge finish but for a home made blend I'm quite pleased with the result - all down to quality ingredients I suppose?

@RianC hey. I haven't tried Ardmore but from what I've seen, indeed it may be up my street. My latest pleasant surprise is that I really liked the ardbeg 10. Just arrived in the country house armed with a fireplace and a bottle of uigeadail that I picked up - will be am evening of relaxation and exploration! Thanks for thinking of me and the recommendation my friend, much appreciated.

@RikS you have a portable fireplace? Is that code for a bottle of Ardbeg?

@Nozinan :)) i suppose that could be a good descriptor for Ardbeg but no, what I meant is that the house has a fireplace (permanent and non-portable) and I brought the bottle.

@RikS - My pleasure, enjoy!