Scotch Whisky Review #359: The Whisky Exchange’s A Fine Christmas Malt 19 Year 2020 Release

Image Credit: The Whisky Exchange

Distillery: Blend.

Bottler: The Whisky Exchange.

Region: Blended Malt.

Age: 19 Year.

ABV: 44.5%.

Cask Type: Sherry Cask.

Cost: Sample courtesy of /u/DangerousDoorknob.

Color: 1.7, Burnt Umber. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.

This is the 24th installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the 2020 edition here and 2019 edition here.

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Nose: (according to the wife) It smells like breakfast tea and waffles! Black tea and maple syrup are the major notes. (according to me) Sherry comes out in droves. Old wooden furniture and a new fresh coat of varnish are next up. Candied ginger and a hint of licorice finish this out.

Palate: Like the nose suggested, there’s a lot of sherry here. Old wood furniture with varnish again comes through. There’s then a few dessert-y notes in milk chocolate, rum raisin cake, and a bit of black forest cake (specifically the cherry filling). With a few drops of water, the sweeter notes here take the reigns. The old wood and varnish vanish leaving behind more sherry, more chocolate, more cherry filling, and more desserts. A chocolate Swiss roll served with a sweet, slightly nutty, caramel comes in as well.

Finish: Medium to long in length. The main note is a sweet and nutty caramel. A bit of varnish with a slightly astringent note was in the first few sips, but it does disappear pretty quickly.

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Conclusion: ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, when not a creature was stirring, not even Scotch the dog. Santa might not get his milk and cookies, but I think he probably would be happy with this blended malt by the folks at The Whisky Exchange. There is a ton of dessert notes to go along with a nice side of old oak. The rum raisin and black forest cakes are delicious and the bit of sweet, nutty caramel that comes along with water is fantastic. This is a great representation of how good blended malt can be and also a good representation of an older sherried dram. Wish you all a Happy Holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Final Score: 86.

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Scotch Whisky Review #359, Blended Malt Review #12, Whisky Network Review #509

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.