Auchroisk 2002 16 Year Old First Edition
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Auchroisk 2002 16 Year Old First Edition is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Auchroisk whisky distillery...
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Spirit Caramel (E150A)
If you’d rather the complete list you can find it here, be warned it takes a while to load though!
Benromach 2008 Cask Strength Batch 1
E150A Free
Our best price:
£59.99
Benromach 2008 Cask Strength Batch 1 is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Benromach whisky distillery (located...
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Buchanan’s Red Seal
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£250
Buchanan’s Red Seal is a blended whisky. The best price currently available is from The Whisky Exchange for only £250.0...
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Coleburn 1970 30 Year Old Signatory
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£750
Coleburn 1970 30 Year Old Signatory is a 30 year old single malt whisky from the Coleburn whisky distillery (located...
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Glen Keith 19 Year Old 1995 – Single Cask (Master of Malt)
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Glen Keith 19 Year Old 1995 – Single Cask (Master of Malt) is a 19 year old single malt whisky...
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Glenmorangie 10 Year Old 100 Proof
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£399
Glenmorangie 10 Year Old 100 Proof is a 10 year old single malt whisky from the Glenmorangie whisky distillery (located...
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Inchgower 2007 10 Year Old Provenance
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Inchgower 2007 10 Year Old Provenance is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Inchgower whisky distillery (located...
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Jameson 15 Year Old /1970s Blended Irish Whiskey
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Jameson 15 Year Old /1970s Blended Irish Whiskey is a 15 year old blended whisky. The best price currently available...
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Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique #061A (2012) Taiwanese Whisky
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£
Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique #061A (2012) Taiwanese Whisky is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Kavalan whisky...
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Longmorn 10 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£76.95
Longmorn 10 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 10 year old single malt whisky from the Longmorn whisky...
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Strathmill 2006 12 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice
E150A Free
Our best price:
£74.95
Strathmill 2006 12 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Strathmill whisky distillery...
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The English – Double Cask
E150A Unknown
Our best price:
£51.95
The English – Double Cask is a single malt whisky. The best price currently available is from Master of Malt...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenfarclas Passion – The Legend of Speyside | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Macallan Terra | 4 | 1 | £159.95 |
| Old Pulteney 25 Year Old 2019 Release | 0 | 0 | £390 |
| Stronachie 10 Year Old | 3.2 | 10 | £32.83 |
| Four Roses Small Batch Barrel Strength /2014 Kentucky Whisky | 0 | 0 | £299 |
| Glentauchers 1997 20 Year Old Single Malts of Scotland | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Cambus 13 Year Old Single Grain Whisky | 0 | 0 | £199 |
| Omar Sherry Single Malt Small Bottle Taiwanese | 0 | 0 | £22.25 |
| Nikka Pure Malt Spice Rack Japanese Blended Malt Whisky | 0 | 0 | £225 |
| Sam Barton 5 Year Old – post 1999 Blended Whisky | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Glen Esk 1984 31 Year Old Cooper’s Choice | 0 | 0 | £350 |
| Glen Grant 12 Year Old | 4.2 | 92 | £29.89 |
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.