Brora 1982 21 Year Old First Cask
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£1000
Brora 1982 21 Year Old First Cask is a 21 year old single malt whisky from the Brora whisky distillery...
Buy Now
Learn More
Spirit Caramel (E150A)
If you’d rather the complete list you can find it here, be warned it takes a while to load though!
Carlton 4 Year Old /1980s Large Bottle
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£99.95
Carlton 4 Year Old /1980s Large Bottle is a 4 year old blended whisky. The best price currently available is...
Buy Now
Learn More
Deanston Mill /1970s
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£375
Deanston Mill /1970s is a single malt whisky from the Deanston whisky distillery (located in the Highland region). The best...
Buy Now
Learn More
Glenrothes 1996 Jack Wiebers
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£180
Glenrothes 1996 Jack Wiebers is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Glenrothes whisky distillery (located in the...
Buy Now
Learn More
Port Dundas 27 Year Old (cask 14451) The Sovereign (Hunter Laing) Grain Whisky
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£104.78
Port Dundas 27 Year Old (cask 14451) The Sovereign (Hunter Laing) Grain Whisky is a 27 year old grain whisky...
Buy Now
Learn More
Van Brunt Stillhouse Rye Spirit American Rye Spirit
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£59.75
Van Brunt Stillhouse Rye Spirit American Rye Spirit is a rye whisky. The best price currently available is from The...
Buy Now
Learn More
Arran 1997 21 Year Old OMC 20th Anniversary Bottling Island Whisky
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Arran 1997 21 Year Old OMC 20th Anniversary Bottling Island Whisky is a 21 year old single malt whisky from...
Buy Now
Learn More
BenRiach 10 Year Old 2007 (cask 8731)
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
BenRiach 10 Year Old 2007 (cask 8731) is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the BenRiach whisky distillery....
Buy Now
Learn More
Brora 1982 21 Year Old Old Malt Cask
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£1000
Brora 1982 21 Year Old Old Malt Cask is a 21 year old single malt whisky from the Brora whisky...
Buy Now
Learn More
Carsebridge 1973 45 Year Old /Sovereign Single Grain Scotch Whisky
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Carsebridge 1973 45 Year Old /Sovereign Single Grain Scotch Whisky is a 45 year old grain whisky from the Carsebridge...
Buy Now
Learn More
Deanston Mill 8 Year Old /1980s
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£299
Deanston Mill 8 Year Old /1980s is a 8 year old single malt whisky from the Deanston whisky distillery (located...
Buy Now
Learn More
Glenlivet Cipher
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£180
Glenlivet Cipher is a single malt whisky from the Glenlivet whisky distillery (located in the Speyside region). The best price...
Buy Now
Learn More
| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grants Character Jug 25 Year Old Royal Doulton | 0 | 0 | £ |
| North Port 1976 24 Year Old First Cask | 0 | 0 | £ |
| David Nicholson 1843 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey | 5 | 5 | £40.84 |
| Glenglassaugh Octaves Classic Batch 2 | 3.5 | 3 | £55 |
| Benrinnes 1974 21 Year Old Rare Malts | 0 | 0 | £ |
| World Whisky Advent Calendar (2019 Edition) Blended Whisky | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Auchentoshan 10 Year Old /1980s | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Longmorn 1969 28 Year Old 10th Anniversary | 0 | 0 | £2000 |
| Highland Park 15 Year Old | 0 | 0 | £84.95 |
| Lagavulin 12 Year Old 18th Release Special Releases 2018 | 3 | 21 | £96.95 |
| Octomore 7 Year Old 2008 (cask 2008000894) (Rest & Be Thankful) | 0 | 0 | £269.95 |
| Springbank 21 Year Old /1980s | 0 | 0 | £1500 |
What is E150A spirit caramel and why do I care?
E150A is a food colouring agent created by burning sugar, it’s permitted as a food colour world wide and can be used to colour whisky. It’s the same stuff that’s added to Coa Cola and Pepsi to give them their dark brown colour and it’s regularly added to a number of grain whiskies, blends and even single malts.
Why are whisky brands adding colour to their whisky?
Spirit caramel is added to whisky for two reasons; firstly to normalise the colour between different batches of whisky and in some cases to enhance the natural colour of the whisky. How much of each occurs is a rather complex question as no brand would readily admit to manipulation of their whisky to mislead consumers.
E150A use for normalisation:
Because blends, and even single malt whiskies, use a mix of different casks in order to try and replicate their signature whisky styles. As every cask is different blending purely to replicate flavour can lead to colour differences between batches. A Laphroaig 10 from 5 years ago might taste virtually identical to one produced today but may be much lighter, or much darker depending on the casks used. To avoid confusion among consumers distilleries many distilleries ‘normalise’ the difference through the addition of E150A.
E150A for enhancement:
At the other end of the spectrum is the role of enhancement and this is particularly prevelant among the lower priced supermarket blends. When whisky is first distilled it’s crystal clear and looks like water, or vodka. The golden or even brown colour is a result of interaction with the barrel it is stored in. For cheaper whiskies older barrels are used and these impart less colour, they often favour larger barrels as well which means less interaction with the liquid (as a smaller barrel offers more liquid to surface area). To avoid these bottles ending up on the shelf looking like off-colour vodka spirit caramelis added to ensure the anticipated golden brown is present. In other instances such as Dalmore
Does E150A change the flavour of whisky?
Yes, E150A does change the taste of a whisky. That is our decided opinion, while countless brand ambasadors will dispute this point, or denounce us and refuse to debate the point we’ve done the leg work and are firmly of the position that E150A does change the flavour of the whisky.
We’ve conducted blind and double blind taste tests using E150A from multiple suppliers, and even using minscule amounts the taste profile does shift slightly. Interestingly this change is not always detrimental and E150A seems on occasion to round out a whisky. In most cases the whiskies are identified as being different, in some the whisky with caramel is preferred, in others the whisky without. There’s no added sweetness (E150A is very bitter) but no obvious bitterness added to the whisky unless absurd amounts are used, so we’re not condemning anyone for the use of spirit caramel. That said in the interest of consumer fairness we feel that consumers should be able to find out what’s in their bottle.
How do we get our list of whiskies containing spirit caramel?
By law any whiskies containing E150A sold in Germany have to list it as an additive, on their websites this usually appears as ‘mit Farbstoff’ or ‘enthält Farbstoff’ both meaning the spirit contains dye. We’ve scraped a number of German whisky websites and matched their ‘EAN’ and bottles details against the bottles we pricecheck using multiple validations to confirm*.
*Ultimately this system is far from perfect, distilleries change their output and bottles that did contain spirit caramel may change their process. It’s also not completely inconceivable that a whisky could contain caramel for one market and not in another, however unlikely this might be. So until the distilleries are prepared to have a grown up conversation, we’ll do everything in our power to keep our DB up to date. Let us know via the contact form if you find any issues.