The rise and rise of blends, part 2: the one you really ought to try.

Thompson Brothers SRV 5, 8 yo blended malt scotch whisky (2014-2022), 48,5% ABV, natural colour, UCF, paid €45

All the cool kids arrive fashionably late to the party, and Malty here, cool as a cucumber stored in an industrial freezer, is no exception. If we’re experiencing a ‘hausse’ when it comes to blends and blended malts in 2023, it’s also because 2021 and 2022 have been 2 great years for them, in terms of releases that got us to sit up and pay attention: Orchard House by Compass Box, Campbeltown Loch by Springbank and indeed, this 8 yo blended malt release by Thompson Brothers have been talked about and celebrated many ties over. When it comes to established players in the game (like, indeed, Compass Box or Springbank), it shouldn’t come as a total surprise when new releases catch some attention, but for a relatively new player like Thompson Brothers, it’s by no means a given to get noticed as there are literally new releases coming and going every other week. Cue the whisky community! This particular release was quickly getting picked up by quite a lot of whiskytubers and bloggers when it was first released and as a consequence, more and more people took an interest in this one. I’ll level with you: when it comes to most of the new players in the field – be it distilleries or blenders or bottlers or (as is the case with Thompson Brothers) all of these combined, I’ve got quite a bit of catching up to do. It’s not that they’re not on my radar, it’s just that often I don’t get round to giving them their due attention. In the best case scenario, I’ve had a chance to make their acquaintance, so to speak. Tried a few Wolfburn, bought one or two bottles of Ardnamurchan and Raasay, dipped my toe in some Nc’Nean, enjoyed me some Torabhaig… that sort of thing. So it’s fair to say that I know of them, but not that I really know them. Yet. Partly its due to availability and distribution, but mostly it’s down to me, my limited budget and equally limited shelf space. And while this is of course a ‘problem’ many of us can probably relate to, I feel, in my case, it’s perhaps also a pity. This whisky boom won’t last for ever and I feel I should be more ‘on the ball’ to make the most of the Renaissance we’re witnessing today. You (or rather: I) will probably only get one chance to watch, taste and experience the process and evolution of young distilleries finding their way, establishing – sometimes by trial and error – what works and what doesn’t when building towards a sort of signature style and profile. If that means getting stuck with a young, undermatured and unbalanced bottle of whisky every now and then: so be it. It will, at the very least, be interesting to witness and experience first hand this ‘genesis’ of 21st century whisky.

Having said that, keeping track of all the new and exciting stuff that’s happening right now, is compeletely impossible. Even if you’re fully dedicated on keeping your finger on the pulse 24/7, you’re bound to miss a significant deal of everything that’s going on. Not even if your name is Serge Valentin, you'll be able to keep track of all and everything. Luckily, and thanks to the community, there’s word of mouth. It’s impossible for a few to try everything, but when there’s many trying a few, those releases that stand out and get people raving, will appear on the radar. Such was very much the case with this blended malt by Thompson Brothers.

Owners and founders of the Dornoch distillery in Sutherland (another new distillery very high on my ‘to try’ list), Phil and Simon Thompson were all but newbies in the whisky scene when starting up their distillery back in 2016, as they were pretty much brought up with whisky. The Dornoch Castle Hotel was acquired by their parents in 2000 and soon the hotel, with both brothers behind the bar, gathered a name and reputation for their whisky selection, focussing on rare and special whiskies long before it became fashionable. Very likely it was their love for pre 1960’s Scotch that planted the seed to bring back this style of whisky – be it by blending and bottling it from sourced stuff, or by creating it from scratch at their own, small (30’000 LPA capacity) distillery. It was like a dart in a bull’s eye, because not before long the distillery, established in the old 19th century local fire station, became too cramped, and needed expansion. It’s very ‘new school’ to go full fledged ‘old school’ and that’s exactly what the Thompsons are doing at Dornoch: using their own floor maltings to convert organic heritage barley varieties into malt, using long fermentations with different yeast varieties.

This blended malt however, comes from the stock they’ve been building from other distilleries. A good chunk of it allegedly comes from a nearby distillery in Sutherland (something starting with a ‘C’ with a cat in the logo) with a dash of Islay single malt (from yet another distillery starting with ‘C’), while the ‘base malt’ is coming from one of Diageo’s biggest Highland distilleries, Glen Ord. As said, it almost immediately got people taking notice and word of mouth did the rest – so much so that they bagged a nomination in last year’s OSWA’s, which in turn probably wasn’t bad publicity either. What makes it even better: for this expression they’re using some sort of solera system to ensure the longevity of it and they explain a lot, if not all, of what you’d like to know about this release on their Youtube Channel.

So to summarize before diving into some tasting notes: every batch of this expression (2 so far) consists of 800 bottles (as that’s about what they can take out of the solera vat when leaving roughly half of the vat to be used for future vattings), made primarily from a neaby Highland distillery (Clynelish) with some Caol Ila in there as well to level things up even further. Sounds good on paper, what about in the glass?

Nose

Citric and lactic notes, a whiff of grass and peat. Slightly oily – soapy with a hint of wax and greenhouse – geranium like floral notes. Shy, understated sweetness from vanilla and fruit, balancing out a soft pepper note. Delicate but with a dirty twist to it, making it complex and subtle.

Taste

Waxy and peaty, and also youthful on malty and grainy notes, with a dry mouthfeel which is a bit peppery-prickly as well. A hint of meatiness. Those greenhouse- grassy notes from the nose transfers into a sappy element. With a drop of water it comes across less sharp without losing its youthful vibrancy. Again, that balance between subtle and dirty, making for a very pleasant overall experience.

Finish

Medium long, clingy and drying. Here the added water had an opposite effect – making it sharper.

Final thoughts

A very good whisky, just shy of being great. Young and vibrant and not afraid to show it. I know it’s only partially Clynelish of course, but it lifts this whisky imo, and the fact that, contrary to what Diageo would expect you to pay for one of their pet distilleries these days, you can get this at very reasonable prices, only adds to the experience. Intrinsically: 84/100. Adding the bang for buck element it easily merits an extra point.