Tuesday 25 July 2017

Monkey Shoulder Whiskey

When I was in Australia for the first time in Summer this year, I got to try a blended whiskey that I had never heard of before: "Monkey Shoulder". It was an incredibly easy drinker and wanted to find out a little bit about it. So here's what is special about it that I was able to find from some quick googling.

The name of the whiskey it self has a historical meaning to it. In the old days when malt men used to turn the barley by hand, some of them picked up a condition where their hand hanged down like of a monkey. This condition was called "monkey shoulder". However, due to the improvements in working conditions this is not a condition that is experienced now a days.

The blend:  The "Monkey shoulder", is called a "triple malt". Where the blend comes exclusively from malt whiskies from three speyside distilleries. The single malts which make up the "Monkey shoulder" comes from Balvenie, Glenfiddich and Kininvie distilleries. Interestingly, the blend does not contain any grain whiskies.

In the future, the monkey shoulder will not disclose the distilleries from which the constituent blends will come, as William Grant and sons are expected to use malts from their other distilleries for Monkey Shoulder.

"Each batch of Monkey Shoulder blend has only 27 casks, which is why there is a label on the neck of the bottle saying Batch 27" [3].

Producers Tasting notes:
Nose: Zesty orange meets mellow vanilla, honey and spiced oak.
Taste: Mellow vanilla with spicy hints.
Finish: Super smooth.

References:
[1] https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/2130/monkey-shoulder/
[2] https://www.monkeyshoulder.com/
[3] http://editorial.hipcask.com/monkey-shoulder-blend-of-3-single-malts/