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Sia Blended Scotch Whisky

Interesting Surprise

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@MaltActivistReview by @MaltActivist

27th Feb 2015

0

Sia Blended Scotch Whisky
  • Nose
    23
  • Taste
    22
  • Finish
    22
  • Balance
    22
  • Overall
    89

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Distribution of ratings for this: user

  • Brand: Sia
  • ABV: 43%

I was just going through my emails when I saw one from a certain Carin Luna-Ostaseski. Who's she? I wondered.

As it turns out she's a former digital creative who decided that it would be a good idea to develop a new brand of blended Scotch whisky from scratch. So she took her proposal to Kickstarter to get it funded.

Then she got none other than Douglas Laing to put together the blend for her. It boasts a fairly high malt to grain ratio (40/60) with whiskies from three regions Speyside (50%), the Highlands (40%) and Islay (10%).

Through 245 backers she managed to raise US$45k and realized her dream of creating a blended whisky.

And she was nice enough to send over sample for me to have a go at. Now let me tell you something. I don't fall for transparent marketing ploys - no matter how good the story if the liquid inside isn't worth my time I'll call it like it is.

However, this one is.

Nose: Melons. Hint of peat. Dark honey. Very sweet. Cloves. Citrus. Pineapple. Apple strudel. Butter malt. The caramel explodes. Hint of salt. The nose is quite big. Lots of lots of fruity sweetness. I like it

Palate: Hint of peat. Honey. Melons. Quite fruity. Creamy. Mild spices. Peaches. Creme Brulee. Vanilla. Nuts. I like the delivery. It has a nice robust mouthfeel. Must be the high ratio of malts in play here.

Finish: Short. Oak. Spices. Wisp of smoke.

I think if you look past the alluring stories this is quite an accomplished tipple. Seems like it's been thought through at all levels. From the stylish packaging to the approachable flavor profile. I quite like this.

And I like it more because it's making whisky approachable to a completely different audience. And that can only be a good thing.

4 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

The mechanism by which Carin contracted this whisky is interesting to me. Did she get a chance to choose one of several proposed blends by tasting it before inking the deal? Or did Douglas Laing just do one up for her de novo? If so, what if she, or the market didn't like the one they came up with? It is one thing to know what you are investing in by having tasted it in advance, and another thing to do so on blind faith. I like some Douglas Laing products, but I have also had some which I did not like.

Thank you for your review, @MaltActivist.

This one reminds me a bit of Allison Patel's relationship with the French distillers of Brenne Whisky. Allison Patel had a good familiarity with the whisky she would be selling before contracting for her brand, Brenne. Hopefully Carin Luna-Ostaseski was that fortunate with Douglas Laing.

9 years ago 0

@MaltActivist
MaltActivist commented

@Victor I'll write to Carin and find out how exactly she went about it. I'm guessing she first went to Douglas Laing and had them put together a blend which she felt was good for the market. Packaged and styled the bottle. And then went to Kickstarter to source funds for the business. I highly doubt she did it on blind faith. Or they may have had a blend formula ready which she deemed acceptable. In any case I'll drop her a mail and get some more details.

9 years ago 0

s
siascotch commented

Hi all, Thank you for the kind words about the blend. And my entrepreneurial journey. It's truly been a labor of love. A long one, but a very joyous one, and gets more exciting day by day as the SIA Scotch Whisky brand continues to grow.

whiskycorner.co.uk/interviews/… Contains a very detailed interview about my experience.

The short version of what you ask is that I started out taking whiskies I had in my collection and creating my own blends. Mixing some 50/50, 25/75,75/25. I did this for many different brands, even adding in a third and fourth whisky at times, to some great results and some not so awesome. I took the great ones and tested them on friends first, then at various tasting events. In particular, events where people weren't expecting a whisky tasting. As when I hosted Scotch tasting events, the people attending were already enthusiasts and my goal was to create a blend that people new to whisky would enjoy. There was a clear winner time and time again (over hundreds of"newbies") so it was very well-tested. It was this blend that became the inspiration for SIA.

I worked for many months with an importer who had various contacts with blenders and distilleries and was presented over 40 blend recipes. Some were very far off from my inspiration spirit, as we're working with what the blenders have in stock, to match what I requested. In the end there was a clear winner. We tweaked it a few times, and in the end came up with something that came damn near close to what that original blend's flavor profile and nose was and I am thrilled with the blend.

I hope this answers your question!

9 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@siascotch, thank you for your nice detailed reply! Brava. Much success with your brand.

9 years ago 0