Strathmill 9 Year Old 2009 (cask 12811) – Provenance (Douglas Laing)
Our best price:
£43.95
Strathmill 9 Year Old 2009 (cask 12811) – Provenance (Douglas Laing) is a 20 year old single malt whisky from...
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Whiskies may contain Spirit Caramel (E150A)
The bottles listed below are as yet unclassified, they may contain E150A, they may not. We’re working hard to find out. If you can point us to any information about their caramel content that would be much appreciated!
The English Small Batch Smokey American Oak English Whisky
Our best price:
£51.63
The English Small Batch Smokey American Oak English Whisky is a single malt whisky. The best price currently available is...
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Tomatin 1975 43 Year Old Warehouse 6 Collection
Our best price:
£
Tomatin 1975 43 Year Old Warehouse 6 Collection is a 43 year old single malt whisky from the Tomatin whisky...
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Auchroisk 7 Year Old 2009 – Hepburn’s Choice (Langside)
Our best price:
£39.95
Auchroisk 7 Year Old 2009 – Hepburn’s Choice (Langside) is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Auchroisk...
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Bulloch Lade’s /1950s Spring Cap
Our best price:
£499
Bulloch Lade’s /1950s Spring Cap is a blended whisky. The best price currently available is from The Whisky Exchange for...
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Compass Box Flaming Heart 2018 Edition Magnum Blended Whisky
Our best price:
£250
Compass Box Flaming Heart 2018 Edition Magnum Blended Whisky is a 20 year old blend whisky. The best price currently...
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Glen Keith 1995 (bottled 2018) (cask 171247) – Samaroli
Our best price:
£274.85
Glen Keith 1995 (bottled 2018) (cask 171247) – Samaroli is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Glen...
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Glenfarclas 8 Year Old /1970s
Our best price:
£450
Glenfarclas 8 Year Old /1970s is a 8 year old single malt whisky from the Glenfarclas whisky distillery (located in...
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Glentauchers 1997 21 Year Old Single Malts Of Scotland
Our best price:
£
Glentauchers 1997 21 Year Old Single Malts Of Scotland is a 21 year old single malt whisky from the Glentauchers...
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Highland Harvest Organic Sauternes Finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Our best price:
£36.75
Highland Harvest Organic Sauternes Finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky is a single malt whisky (located in the Highland region). The...
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Laphroaig 1998 17 Year Old Single Malts of Scotland
Our best price:
£
Laphroaig 1998 17 Year Old Single Malts of Scotland is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Laphroaig...
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Mannochmore 10 Year Old 2007 (casks 6662 & 6663) – Signatory
Our best price:
£
Mannochmore 10 Year Old 2007 (casks 6662 & 6663) – Signatory is a 66 year old single malt whisky from...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michter’s US*1 Single Barrel Straight Rye Gift Box | 0 | 0 | £53.95 |
| Loch Lomond 18 Year Old 1996 (casks 42929, 42970 & 42980) – Select Gra Grain Whisky | 0 | 0 | £60.95 |
| Mackmyra Moment Karibien Swedish | 5 | 1 | £89.75 |
| Glenmorangie 1963 23 Year Old Sherry Cask | 0 | 0 | £2250 |
| Speyside #2 25 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) | 0 | 0 | £116.95 |
| Caol Ila 12 Year Old /1980s | 0 | 0 | £750 |
| Girvan 30 Year Old 1988 (cask 15559) – The Sovereign (Hunter Laing) Grain Whisky | 0 | 0 | £118.95 |
| Glen Grant 1966 Gordon & Macphail | 0 | 0 | £925 |
| Glendronach 1976 18 Year Old Sherry Cask | 0 | 0 | £1500 |
| Glen Grant 1953 /2006 Gordon & Macphail | 0 | 0 | £2800 |
| Schenley Reserve /1940s American Blended Whiskey | 0 | 0 | £450 |
| Ardbeg Twenty One 21 Year Old | 0 | 0 | £475 |
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’. 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.