Scottish Glory 3 Year Old Blended Whisky
Our best price:
£
Scottish Glory 3 Year Old Blended Whisky is a 3 year old blended whisky. The best price currently available is...
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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!
Springbank 12 Year Old – 1980s
Our best price:
£
Springbank 12 Year Old – 1980s is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Springbank whisky distillery. The...
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White Oak Akashi 5 Year Old Red Wine Cask
Our best price:
£139.95
White Oak Akashi 5 Year Old Red Wine Cask is a 5 year old single malt whisky. The best price...
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Aberlour 9 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Our best price:
£74.95
Aberlour 9 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 9 year old single malt whisky from the Aberlour whisky...
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Balblair 2010 8 Year Old Provenance
Our best price:
£47.95
Balblair 2010 8 Year Old Provenance is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Balblair whisky distillery (located...
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Bunnahabhain 37 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Our best price:
£272.95
Bunnahabhain 37 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 37 year old single malt whisky from the Bunnahabhain whisky...
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Cragganmore 12 Year Old /1980s
Our best price:
£750
Cragganmore 12 Year Old /1980s is a 12 year old single malt whisky from the Cragganmore whisky distillery (located in...
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Glenmorangie 1975 25 Year Old Cote De Nuits
Our best price:
£2000
Glenmorangie 1975 25 Year Old Cote De Nuits is a 25 year old single malt whisky from the Glenmorangie whisky...
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Invergordon 1990 (bottled 2019) (cask 900367) – Alba Series (Whisky Il Grain Whisky
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£
Invergordon 1990 (bottled 2019) (cask 900367) – Alba Series (Whisky Il Grain Whisky is a 20 year old grain whisky...
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Jefferson’s Ch. Suduiraut Finish Grand Selection
Our best price:
£125
Jefferson’s Ch. Suduiraut Finish Grand Selection is a bourbon whiskey. The best price currently available is from Master of Malt...
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North British 55 Year Old 1962 (cask 12398) – Xtra Old Particular (Dou Grain Whisky
Our best price:
£950
North British 55 Year Old 1962 (cask 12398) – Xtra Old Particular (Dou Grain Whisky is a 55 year old...
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The Glenlee Blended Whisky
Our best price:
£15.95
The Glenlee Blended Whisky is a blended whisky. The best price currently available is from Master of Malt for only...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameronbridge 26 Year Old 1991 (cask 14753) – The Sovereign (Hunter La Grain Whisky | 0 | 0 | £101.78 |
| Irish Single Malt 2001 16 Year Old Whisky Agency | 0 | 0 | £199 |
| Gilbey’s Spey Royal /1940s | 0 | 0 | £250 |
| Peatside 7 Year Old 2011 – The Vatting (Murray McDavid) Blended Malt Whisky | 0 | 0 | £53.95 |
| Bunnahabhain 10 Year Old 2008 (cask 12663) – Clan Denny (Douglas Laing | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Port Ellen 1979 21 Year Old Old Malt Cask | 0 | 0 | £1200 |
| Grant’s Elementary 29 Year Old – Copper Blended Whisky | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Springbank 20 Year Old /Wedding Edition Da Mhile | 0 | 0 | £450 |
| Royal Salute Directors Celebration Reserve | 0 | 0 | £550 |
| Glenfarclas 8 Year Old’105′ /1970s | 0 | 0 | £750 |
| High Coast Alv Delicate Vanilla Swedish | 4 | 1 | £48.95 |
| Bruichladdich 32 Year Old 1977 – DNA (2nd Edition) | 0 | 0 | £999.95 |
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.