Port Askaig 45 Year Old
Our best price:
£1200
Port Askaig 45 Year Old is a 45 year old single malt whisky (located in the Islay region). The best...
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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!
Rock Oyster Cask Strength No2 Editon Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Our best price:
£
Rock Oyster Cask Strength No2 Editon Blended Malt Scotch Whisky is a blended malt whisky. The best price currently available...
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Tullibardine 11 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Our best price:
£52.95
Tullibardine 11 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 11 year old single malt whisky from the Tullibardine whisky...
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Ardbeg Supernova 2015 (SN2015) – Committee Release
Our best price:
£
Ardbeg Supernova 2015 (SN2015) – Committee Release is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Ardbeg whisky distillery....
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Caol Ila 2007 8 Year Old Whisky Agency
Our best price:
£
Caol Ila 2007 8 Year Old Whisky Agency is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Caol Ila...
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Dalwhinnie 1996 /2012 Distillers Edition
Our best price:
£79.95
Dalwhinnie 1996 /2012 Distillers Edition is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Dalwhinnie whisky distillery (located in...
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Glen Elgin White Horse /1990s
Our best price:
£225
Glen Elgin White Horse /1990s is a single malt whisky from the Glen Elgin whisky distillery (located in the Speyside...
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Highland Queen (1.5L) Blended Whisky
Our best price:
£34.25
Highland Queen (1.5L) Blended Whisky is a 1 year old blended whisky (located in the Highland region). The best price...
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Linkwood 1993 25 Year Old Adelphi
Our best price:
£
Linkwood 1993 25 Year Old Adelphi is a 25 year old single malt whisky from the Linkwood whisky distillery (located...
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Macallan No.6 Decanter
Our best price:
£2500
Macallan No.6 Decanter is a single malt whisky from the Macallan whisky distillery (located in the Speyside region). The best...
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Miltonduff 9 Year Old 2009 – Hepburn’s Choice (Langside)
Our best price:
£
Miltonduff 9 Year Old 2009 – Hepburn’s Choice (Langside) is a 20 year old single malt whisky from the Miltonduff...
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Ardbeg Twenty One 21 Year Old
Our best price:
£475
Ardbeg Twenty One 21 Year Old is a 21 year old single malt whisky from the Ardbeg whisky distillery (located...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Eadie’s Trade Mark “X” Blended Whisky | 3.5 | 2 | £34.95 |
| Laphroaig Cairdeas Madeira Cask | 0 | 0 | £ |
| BenRiach 10 Year Old 2007 (cask 3071) | 0 | 0 | £98.95 |
| Glencadam 19 Year Old Oloroso Sherry Finish | 4.3 | 3 | £110.78 |
| Sonoma Distilling Co Cherrywood Bourbon California Bourbon Whiskey | 4 | 2 | £54.85 |
| Aird Mhor 2009 7 Year Old Single Malts of Scotland | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Glencadam 1998 19 Year Old Cask #1 | 0 | 0 | £145 |
| Tomatin 21 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) | 0 | 0 | £137.95 |
| Craigduff 1973 45 Year Old Signatory 30th Anniversary | 0 | 0 | £1495 |
| Cl12 – Elements of Islay | 0 | 0 | £64.95 |
| Scallywag 10 Year Old Speyside Blended Malt Scotch Whisky | 5 | 2 | £47.95 |
| Aultmore 12 Year Old /1980s | 0 | 0 | £199 |
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.