Armorik Millesime 2002 Oloroso Sherry Cask /
Our best price:
£83.95
Armorik Millesime 2002 Oloroso Sherry Cask / is a 33 year old single malt whisky. The best price currently available...
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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!
Ben Nevis 1984 31 Year Old LMDW 60th Anniversary
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£
Ben Nevis 1984 31 Year Old LMDW 60th Anniversary is a 60 year old single malt whisky from the Ben...
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Brora 1981 28 Year Old Sherry Cask Old & Rare Platinum
Our best price:
£1500
Brora 1981 28 Year Old Sherry Cask Old & Rare Platinum is a 28 year old single malt whisky from...
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Deanston 1999 19 Year Old Asta Morris
Our best price:
£160
Deanston 1999 19 Year Old Asta Morris is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Deanston whisky distillery...
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Glen Garioch 17 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Our best price:
£87.95
Glen Garioch 17 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 17 year old single malt whisky from the Glen...
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Glenesk 1984 /2004 Connoisseurs Choice
Our best price:
£450
Glenesk 1984 /2004 Connoisseurs Choice is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Glenesk whisky distillery (located in...
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Glenlivet 30 Year Old American Oak
Our best price:
£
Glenlivet 30 Year Old American Oak is a 30 year old single malt whisky from the Glenlivet whisky distillery (located...
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Howard MacLaren Special /1960s
Our best price:
£150
Howard MacLaren Special /1960s is a blended whisky. The best price currently available is from The Whisky Exchange for only...
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Linlithgow 1982 18 Year Old Signatory
Our best price:
£699
Linlithgow 1982 18 Year Old Signatory is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the St Magdalene whisky distillery...
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Macduff 1997 20 Year Old Kingsbury
Our best price:
£115
Macduff 1997 20 Year Old Kingsbury is a 41 year old single malt whisky from the Macduff whisky distillery (located...
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SMWS 61.12 1977 25 Year Old
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£
SMWS 61.12 1977 25 Year Old is a 61 year old whisky (located in the Highland region). The best price...
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Strathclyde 12 Year Old Chivas Regal Distillery Collection Single Whisky
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£
Strathclyde 12 Year Old Chivas Regal Distillery Collection Single Whisky is a 12 year old grain whisky from the Strathclyde...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Towiemore – Archivist’s Selection (The Lost Distillery Company) Blended Malt Whisky | 0 | 0 | £59.95 |
| Tomatin 18 Year Old Oloroso Sherry Finish | 4 | 32 | £84.9 |
| Woodford Reserve Masters No.10 White Corn | 0 | 0 | £109.95 |
| Karuizawa 1999 & 2000 LMDW Cellar Book Japanese | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Strathmill 10 Year Old 2008 – James Eadie | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Macallan 10 Year Old 100 Proof /1990s | 0 | 0 | £2750 |
| Benrinnes 1991 26 Year Old Single Malts of Scotland | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Glen Grant 50 Year Old Gordon & MacPhail | 0 | 0 | £699 |
| Glenmorangie 10 Year Old 100 Proof | 0 | 0 | £399 |
| Highland Park 12 Year Old 2 Glass Pack Island Whisky | 0 | 0 | £39.95 |
| Mortlach 1999 19 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Cu Bocan Creation 2 Shochu & Virgin Oak Cask | 0 | 0 | £58.95 |
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.