MacScot’s Blended
And the prize for the least creative name of a “scotch” blend goes to… MacScot’s, which I heard of for the first time the other day. Apparently it is a blend produced in Sweden, yet I have been fortunate enough to try it. Scandinavia is pretty well known for having high taxes, especially on alcohol, which makes everything rather more expensive than one might like. MacScot’s saw a bit of a gap in the market for cheap whisky, and decided to roll out their own low-budget blend, priced at a reasonable $30(ish) for a 24oz bottle.
The label is about as tacky as the name, and the whisky is so boring I nearly fell asleep as soon as I opened the bottle. I honestly don’t think I could even imagine a more boring whisky – the name is bland and tacky, the bottle has a classic “whisky bottle” shape, the label is so freaking unimaginative you’d think it was a prop from a cheap amateur movie, and the whisky itself is more likely to produce tears of disappointment than joy.
Some oak, honey and dry grass on the nose – not a whole lot of either, just a rather bland mix of them all, pretty much the definition of “whisky smell”. The palate, meanwhile, presents oak, some spice, grass and a bit of honey; it’s more pleasant than the nose, but still about as exciting as a mortgage advert on TV. Not a good blend, but I will admit that it is not the worst I’ve had – it’s far better than Bell’s, Tesco’s own brand and better than Cutty Sark.
The problem is that it’s too bland, there’s not enough on the nose, not enough flavor, and it looks incredibly boring. They could’ve just called it Whisky – Looks like whisky, smells like whisky, and tastes like whisky. Perfectly unexciting.
Color: Dark yellow/orange.
Nose: Generic whisky.
Taste: Generic whisky.