Brora 1981 24 Year Old Sherry Butt Signatory
Our best price:
£1400
Brora 1981 24 Year Old Sherry Butt Signatory is a 24 year old single malt whisky from the Brora whisky...
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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!
Caperdonich 5 Year Old /1970s
Our best price:
£750
Caperdonich 5 Year Old /1970s is a 5 year old single malt whisky from the Caperdonich whisky distillery (located in...
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Glen Flagler 5 Year Old /1980s Large bottle
Our best price:
£699
Glen Flagler 5 Year Old /1980s Large bottle is a 5 year old single malt whisky from the Glen Flagler...
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Glenesk 1974 27 Year Old Signatory
Our best price:
£600
Glenesk 1974 27 Year Old Signatory is a 27 year old single malt whisky from the Glenesk whisky distillery (located...
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Haig Gold Label /1970s
Our best price:
£99.95
Haig Gold Label /1970s is a blended whisky. The best price currently available is from The Whisky Exchange for only...
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Jura 1988 Vintage Series Tawny Port Finish Island Whisky
Our best price:
£650
Jura 1988 Vintage Series Tawny Port Finish Island Whisky is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Isle...
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Old Poindexter Brand 5 Year Old /1946 Kentucky Whisky
Our best price:
£
Old Poindexter Brand 5 Year Old /1946 Kentucky Whisky is a 5 year old whisky. The best price currently available...
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Teaninich 1983 35 Year Old Signatory 30th Anniversary
Our best price:
£575
Teaninich 1983 35 Year Old Signatory 30th Anniversary is a 35 year old single malt whisky from the Teaninich whisky...
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Brora 1981 25 Year Old Duncan Taylor
Our best price:
£1200
Brora 1981 25 Year Old Duncan Taylor is a 25 year old single malt whisky from the Brora whisky distillery...
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Cardhu 12 Year Old 2 Glass Pack
Our best price:
£43.25
Cardhu 12 Year Old 2 Glass Pack is a 12 year old single malt whisky from the Cardhu whisky distillery...
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Glen Flagler 8 Year Old /1970s
Our best price:
£1000
Glen Flagler 8 Year Old /1970s is a 8 year old single malt whisky from the Glen Flagler whisky distillery...
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Glenesk 1974 30 Year Old Old Malt Cask
Our best price:
£700
Glenesk 1974 30 Year Old Old Malt Cask is a 30 year old single malt whisky from the Glenesk whisky...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Poacher Blended Whisky | 2.5 | 5 | £15.41 |
| Inchgower 26 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) | 0 | 0 | £199.95 |
| Glen Elgin 14 Year Old United DistillersChristmas 1990 | 0 | 0 | £550 |
| Macduff 1997 (bottled 2017) (cask 5869) – Samaroli | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Dalwhinnie 8 Year Old /1980s | 0 | 0 | £399 |
| Four Roses Yellow Label 6 Year Old /1970s | 0 | 0 | £325 |
| Reservoir Wheat Whiskey Virginia Wheat Whiskey | 5 | 1 | £94.95 |
| Linkwood 11 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) | 0 | 0 | £ |
| St Patrick’s Irish Cream Liqueur Cream Whiskey | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Glenfarclas 1975 (cask 1185) Family Cask Winter 2015 Release | 0 | 0 | £6686.59 |
| Ben Nevis 10 Year Old Cask Strength Batch No.1 | 4.5 | 2 | £40 |
| Mars Komagatake Shinanotanpopo – Nature of Shinshu | 5 | 1 | £125 |
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.