Glen Grant Cask Haven – Rothes Chronicles
Contains E150A
Our best price:
£65.95
Glen Grant Cask Haven – Rothes Chronicles is a single malt whisky from the Glen Grant whisky distillery. The best...
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!
Glenfarclas 25 Year Old /1980s
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£750
Glenfarclas 25 Year Old /1980s is a 25 year old single malt whisky from the Glenfarclas whisky distillery (located in...
Buy Now
Learn More
Glenmorangie 10 Year Old 100 Best UK Companies
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£350
Glenmorangie 10 Year Old 100 Best UK Companies is a 10 year old single malt whisky from the Glenmorangie whisky...
Buy Now
Learn More
Glentauchers 1996 21 Year Old Old Particular
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£113
Glentauchers 1996 21 Year Old Old Particular is a 21 year old single malt whisky from the Glentauchers whisky distillery...
Buy Now
Learn More
Inchgower 20 Year Old 1998 – Old Malt Cask (Hunter Laing)
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Inchgower 20 Year Old 1998 – Old Malt Cask (Hunter Laing) is a 20 year old single malt whisky from...
Buy Now
Learn More
Jameson 12 Year Old /1970s Blended Irish Whiskey
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£399
Jameson 12 Year Old /1970s Blended Irish Whiskey is a 12 year old blended whisky. The best price currently available...
Buy Now
Learn More
Kavalan Solist Vinho (2013) Cask #067A Taiwanese
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Kavalan Solist Vinho (2013) Cask #067A Taiwanese is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Kavalan whisky distillery....
Buy Now
Learn More
Long John Special Reserve /1960s
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£175
Long John Special Reserve /1960s is a blended whisky. The best price currently available is from The Whisky Exchange for...
Buy Now
Learn More
Strathmill 1996 22 Year Old Signatory
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Strathmill 1996 22 Year Old Signatory is a 22 year old single malt whisky from the Strathmill whisky distillery (located...
Buy Now
Learn More
The English – Cabernet Sauvignon Cask (Single Cask Release)
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
The English – Cabernet Sauvignon Cask (Single Cask Release) is a single malt whisky. The best price currently available is...
Buy Now
Learn More
Tomatin 15 Year Old
E150A Free
Our best price:
£
Tomatin 15 Year Old is a 15 year old single malt whisky from the Tomatin whisky distillery (located in the...
Buy Now
Learn More
Auchroisk 20 Year Old /2010
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£185
Auchroisk 20 Year Old /2010 is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Auchroisk whisky distillery (located in...
Buy Now
Learn More
| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bunnahabhain Staoisha 2014 4 Year Old Signatory for TWE | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Isle of Jura 10 Year Old Origin | 2.8 | 198 | £42.99 |
| Fettercairn 8 Year Old 2009 (cask 1091)- Cask Collection (A.D. Rattray | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Royal Salute 21 Year Old Eternal Reserve | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Paddy Blended Irish Whiskey | 4 | 71 | £22.99 |
| Talisker 2008 9 Year Old First Editions Island Whisky | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Egan’s Fortitude Single Malt Whiskey | 4 | 1 | £59.95 |
| The English Original English | 4 | 4 | £36.83 |
| Arran Sherry Cask Finish | 3.5 | 4 | £32 |
| Caol Ila 2002 Distillers Edition | 5 | 3 | £ |
| Bowmore Mizunara Cask Finish | 0 | 0 | £1500 |
| Millburn 1966 16 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice | 0 | 0 | £ |
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.