Tobermory 2005 12 Year Old Fino Cask Finish Island Whisky
Our best price:
£99.95
Tobermory 2005 12 Year Old Fino Cask Finish Island Whisky is a 12 year old single malt whisky from the...
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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!
BenRiach 7 Year Old 2011 – Single Cask (Master of Malt)
Our best price:
£89.95
BenRiach 7 Year Old 2011 – Single Cask (Master of Malt) is a 20 year old single malt whisky from...
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Bruichladdich 13 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Our best price:
£76.95
Bruichladdich 13 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 13 year old single malt whisky from the Bruichladdich whisky...
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Chivas Regal 12 Year Old /1980s
Our best price:
£120
Chivas Regal 12 Year Old /1980s is a 12 year old blend whisky. The best price currently available is from...
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Dimple /1950s Spring Cap
Our best price:
£
Dimple /1950s Spring Cap is a blended whisky. The best price currently available is from for only £ we don’t...
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Glenfarclas 1959 (cask 3226) Family Cask Spring 2015 Release
Our best price:
£6130.07
Glenfarclas 1959 (cask 3226) Family Cask Spring 2015 Release is a 32 year old single malt whisky from the Glenfarclas...
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Glenrothes 8 Year Old /1970s
Our best price:
£450
Glenrothes 8 Year Old /1970s is a 8 year old single malt whisky from the Glenrothes whisky distillery (located in...
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Old Tahoe Straight Rye Whiskey Straight Rye Whiskey
Our best price:
£55.75
Old Tahoe Straight Rye Whiskey Straight Rye Whiskey is a rye whisky. The best price currently available is from The...
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Port Ellen 1978 25 Year Old Old Malt Cask
Our best price:
£
Port Ellen 1978 25 Year Old Old Malt Cask is a 25 year old single malt whisky from the Port...
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Royal Salute 21 Year Old Brown Spode Decanter
Our best price:
£350
Royal Salute 21 Year Old Brown Spode Decanter is a 21 year old blended whisky. The best price currently available...
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SPEY Fumare Cask Strength – Batch 2
Our best price:
£58.95
SPEY Fumare Cask Strength – Batch 2 is a 2 year old single malt whisky. The best price currently available...
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Auchentoshan 10 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Our best price:
£58.95
Auchentoshan 10 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 10 year old single malt whisky from the Auchentoshan whisky...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park 25 Year Old /1990s | 5 | 1 | £1000 |
| Balvenie 30 Year Old Old Presentation | 0 | 0 | £ |
| The Kurayoshi Pure Malt Blended Malt Whisky | 4.5 | 3 | £72.95 |
| Benrinnes 9 Year Old 2007 (casks 300510 & 300512) – Small Batch (James | 0 | 0 | £ |
| World Whisky Advent Calendar – Classic Style (2019 Edition) Blended Whisky | 0 | 0 | £149.95 |
| Glencadam 1991 26 Year Old TWE Exclusive G&M | 0 | 0 | £150 |
| Brora 30 Year Old 9th Release /2010 | 0 | 0 | £1600 |
| Glenfarclas 1959 (cask 3226) Family Cask Spring 2015 Release | 0 | 0 | £6130.07 |
| Arran 1997 21 Year Old OMC 20th Anniversary Bottling Island Whisky | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Dry Fly Wheat Whiskey 3 Year Old Port Finish | 0 | 0 | £61.95 |
| Caperdonich 1982 36 Year Old Private Collection | 0 | 0 | £1250 |
| Glenkinchie 2000 /2014 Distillers Edition | 0 | 0 | £64.95 |
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.