Blend It Like Beckham - The New Haig Club Grain Whisky

Well, sometimes prophecies do come true it seems.

In January, we looked into our crystal whisky glass and thought long and hard about what was going to happen in the whisky world.

Our first prediction was that the world of grain whisky would get a lot more popular with several major players entering the market place with new products.

Our second prediction was that there would be the unveiling of a huge celebrity endorsement whisky.  At that point, the waters went cloudy and we couldn't quite make out just whose face was disappearing back into the haze -  but they looked familiar, fairly handsome and in possession of a decent haircut.

Today it seems that both of these predictions have proved to come true.

The whisky world has entered another realm of celebrity with the announcement of Haig Club -  a brand new grain whisky partnership between Diageo and none other than football's favourite son, David Beckham.

Beckham and his manager, the show business mogul Simon Fuller are familiar to millions around the globe so make no mistake, this is quite a big deal. What is surprising, but equally very pleasing, is that the whisky in question is a grain; the bedrock of any blended whisky and the spirit that really drives the Scotch  business forward. Without it, the world domination of whisky simply wouldn't have occurred. Brands like Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal, Cutty Sark and any of the many other ubiquitous blends would not be welcoming sights in back bars from Alaska to Zurich.

So why Haig Club?

Well, the Haig family has a long seated presence in the grain whisky world. The Haig family are arguably the first distillers of Scotch whisky on record, dating back to 1655.  In 1824, John Haig established the Cameronbridge distillery, which has now become one of Scotland's largest grain distilleries producing around 120 million litres of spirit every year.  From Smirnoff vodka- to Gordon's and Tanqueray gin, through to a host of blended whiskies you will have tried, the large proportion of the grain spirit within these famous brands is made at the Cameronbridge distillery.

Haig is the name on another hugely successful blend - Dimple, which for all those Breaking Bad fans, was Walter White's favourite tipple of choice, shortly before cooking up a bad-ass batch of Crystal Meth.

Now it seems that Haig has reinvented itself again -  this time with a new global icon at the helm.

David Beckham and his team of business advisors have clearly entered the whisky market at the right time, given its continued global expansion. With the Far East becoming more switched on to Scotch whisky of all kinds (premium single malts and blended whiskies) and also South America (particularly Brazil) developing a healthy appetite for whisky, it is undoubtedly hot property. But the fact that Haig Club is solely a grain whisky is doubly clever. Unlike malt whisky, grain has a softer profile, lighter in style, making it easy to mix and certainly easier on the palate than heavier, more robustly flavoured whiskies.

Until recently, when William Grant & Sons released their Girvan series of whiskies (essentially becoming pioneers in opening up a new grain whisky market) there was little consistency around grain whiskies, with most coming from independent sources: some were excellent, some were truly terrible. Grain whisky has clearly always been an untapped resource and now it all lots set to change once again from being a team player within the confines of a blend, to becoming a real star player on its own (sorry, we couldn't resist that)

The new Haig Club whisky won't carry an age statement and will be made from three distinct styles of casks: refill - used whisky casks, rejuvenated casks (which give a greater level of spiciness to the flavour) and first fill bourbon casks. With grain whisky intended to be easy to mix with pretty much anything:  from soda, tonic, lemonade and cola, it is not going to be as complex and structured as a single malt - but that's the point. At the moment, there is no RRP, but the whisky will be released later this year, so we shall see if it will come with a price tag as lofty as a premiership transfer fee.

We were invited to try an advanced sample of Haig Club a few months ago and here's our tasting notes:

Haig Club - Grain Whisky -  40% 

Nose: Fresh coconut, milk chocolate, rich Madagascan vanilla, chopped hazelnuts, honeycomb and a hit of banoffee pie and a little fresh pine aroma too.

Palate: Coconut, pineapple and banana come to the fore, backed with a delicate undertone of blackcurrant, a hint of raspberry and more fresh vanilla. This is a sunny tropical fruit salad of a whisky, but there is a solid foundation of oak underneath.

Finish: Milk chocolate truffles, more coconut and a hint of oak-led spice which gives some real uplift to the finish. 

Overall: This is not a flighty, flavourless grain but one which has taken on a good balance of both tropical fruits on the top end (giving a mouth-watering flavour) yet with a strong foundation of vanilla and spice. No doubt, it will be a real game changer, like the man who has lent his name to the project. 

Green Grains from the Emerald Isles

You may have noticed that recently we've reviewed a few Irish whiskies, inc Connemara's Turf Mor (which was fairly heavy going at first) and Inish Turk Beg, a new Irish single malt, which was decidedly subtle, light and floral, much like a young Scotch.

We've just been sent a sample of Greenore's new aged grain, which demonstrates to us the current resurgence of Irish whiskey as a category- there seems to be a healthy number of interesting releases, with a number planned over the coming months. Finally some good news from the Emerald Isle.

According to Cooley, this new release is, at 18 years old, the oldest bottling of Irish Grain in the world and the release is limited to 4000 bottles. We reviewed the 8yo small batch release last year, which was a little harsh, but blended extremely well in a few long cocktails.

needless to say we won't be trying this method just yet on the 18yo!!

Greenore, 18yo Single Grain Irish whiskey - 46% - 4000 bottles

Nose: Unmistakable as a grain, with big floral sweetness emerging from the glass with such vigour, that its now covered the side of my laptop... balls. With a little more time in the glass, some polished surface-like notes emerge, as well as barley sugar, creamy cereal and a hint of vintage suede leather. It's vibrant, yet restrained- and works superbly well.

Palate: Soft at first entry, with a hint of a bite- then the flavours start to develop. Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, fruity sweetness, but then a darker, spicy side, with a hint of root liquorice, anise and sharp cherry sherbet. Again, lots of vibrant notes, but all controlled beautifully.

Finish: The cherry notes are retained on the palate, which dries into a long, fruity tongue coating aftertaste.

Overall: A damn good bottling, with all the right elements you'd hope for in an aged grain. The fruity notes are all there in abundance, but the age has been very kind indeed to this whiskey, giving it plenty of complexity as it lingers in the glass.

A Berry Good Friday Threesome

Sometimes the puns slip off the tongue far too easily, but as Friday's sunshine descends into a lovely warm evening, here's a trio of new releases from Berry Bros & Rudd to get your lips around.

Berrys' Own Selection - Glenlossie - 1975 - 49.8%

Nose: Menthol, earthiness (freshly turned soil) some mossy/leafy notes and a little burnt orange, combine with some much lighter, sweeter vanilla/white chocolate aromas. Really superbly balanced. With the addition of water, a hint of candle wax and some floral soap and a fabulous sweet berry note.

Palate: Malt, coupled with some of those minty/menthol notes, with a drying backbeat of rich blood oranges, a hint of sweetness of the marzipan variety and a little prickle from some peppery spices, including cinnamon. A very impressive and well balanced drop indeed.

Finish: The orange notes morph into some lingering florals and the palate dries off over a very long time indeed.

Overall: What a superbly pleasant surprise. Glenlossie isn't a distillery we've had the pleasure to cover much but this sets the benchmark right up there. It's a bottling from my birth year, so will now be on the 'list' of purchases for my 40th birthday celebrations (to be fair, a few years off yet!)

Next up... a rather interesting grain...

Berrys' Own Selection - Girvan Grain - 1989 - 45.1%

Nose: A very light and fruity entry, followed by some damp sugar paper, a hint of engine oil, wool sweaters, marzipan and candy floss. Sounds crazy, but this reminded me of the aromas you'd get at an old fashioned steam fair!! And I mean that in the best possible way.

Palate: Wow, super sweet with a big creamy fudge note dominating the mouth. I just returned from St Ives and bought back some Cornish fudge- the similarities are stunning. As the sweetness dies away, some crystal clean grain comes through, into a hint of lemon peel, and Glace cherries.

Finish: Short, but not short on the lingering sweetness.

Overall: Less developed than the 1971 Invergordon Single Grain, which showed really well in our BiG awards a few months ago, but this is definitely a bottle to consider if you have a sweet tooth.

Our final dram in this Friday Threesome is a feisty Cragganmore from 1997. We were driving past the distillery only yesterday- sadly no time to stop, but there's certainly another Speyside trip planned soon and Cragganmore is at the top of our lists...

Berrys' Own Selection - Cragganmore - 1997 - 58.6%

Nose: Creamy, with a soft cheese note, followed by a hint of drying sherry cask aromas, peanut brittle, olives in chilli oil and a few savoury notes. (sundried peppers) Give it a little time in the glass and the savoury elements start to balance out and a distinct note of sharp cooking apple pokes its head through for a chat.

Palate: Big mouthfeel indeed. Hot and very savoury, with a mighty maltiness, some pepper, spiced beef and mashed potato. Almost a Cottage pie in fact. Needs some water to really come alive, with a nice sweet side to the malt coupling with cream toffee as the savoury notes subside.

Finish: Lingering spices and cream make for a lengthy finish.

Overall: I wasn't sure about this one initially and it certainly needed some water to start shining through. If you're a Cragganmore fan, i'd recommend you see if Ed or Doug have this bottling open in the shop for a wee taster- it is certainly worth it.