Michel Couvreur Special Vatting Peaty Malt French Blended Malt
Our best price:
£131
Michel Couvreur Special Vatting Peaty Malt French Blended Malt is a blended malt whisky. Rated an average of 5.0 out...
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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!
Penderyn Independence
Our best price:
£42.83
Penderyn Independence is a single malt whisky from the Penderyn whisky distillery. Rated an average of 5.0 out of 5...
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Glenglassaugh 38 Year Old 1978 (cask 2343) – Rare Cask Release Batch 3
Our best price:
£
Glenglassaugh 38 Year Old 1978 (cask 2343) – Rare Cask Release Batch 3 is a 38 year old single malt...
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Lower East Side Blended Malt Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Our best price:
£29.95
Lower East Side Blended Malt Blended Malt Scotch Whisky is a blended malt whisky. Rated an average of 5.0 out...
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Alainn 27 Year Old 1989 – The Vatting (Murray McDavid) (2018 Release) Blended Malt Whisky
Our best price:
£153.95
Alainn 27 Year Old 1989 – The Vatting (Murray McDavid) (2018 Release) Blended Malt Whisky is a 27 year old...
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Red Spot 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Our best price:
£
Red Spot 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is a 15 year old single pot still...
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Blended Malt #1 23 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) Blended Malt Whisky
Our best price:
£
Blended Malt #1 23 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) Blended Malt Whisky is a 23 year old blended malt...
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Blended Malt #2 – Batch 2 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) Blended Malt Whisky
Our best price:
£99.95
Blended Malt #2 – Batch 2 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) Blended Malt Whisky is a 2 year old blended malt...
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Ledaig 18 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
Our best price:
£76
Ledaig 18 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) is a 18 year old single malt whisky. Rated an average of...
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Macallan 10 Year Old Sherry Oak
Our best price:
£199
Macallan 10 Year Old Sherry Oak is a 19 year old single malt whisky from the Macallan whisky distillery (located...
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Michter’s US*1 Original Sour Mash Whiskey Gift Box
Our best price:
£49.96
Michter’s US*1 Original Sour Mash Whiskey Gift Box is a grain whisky from the Michter’s whisky distillery. Rated an average...
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The John Walker Baccarat Crystal Decanter
Our best price:
£2000
The John Walker Baccarat Crystal Decanter is a blended whisky. Rated an average of 5.0 out of 5 by 8...
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| Whisky Bottle | Rating | Reviews | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park 40 Year Old | 0 | 0 | £2300 |
| Longmorn 1964 Sherry Cask /2015 Gordon & Macphail | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Young & Old 7 Year Old 2011 – Crafted Blend (Murray McDavid) Blended Whisky | 0 | 0 | £91.95 |
| Banff 1974 13 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice | 0 | 0 | £550 |
| Old Fettercairn 10 Year Old /1980s | 0 | 0 | £110 |
| Glenmorangie 1975 25 Year Old Cote De Nuits | 0 | 0 | £2000 |
| A Drop of the Irish 1989/26 Year Old/Blackadder Statement 20 | 0 | 0 | £350 |
| Ballantine’s Finest Felipe Pantone Limited Edition Blended Whisky | 0 | 0 | £23.25 |
| Wemyss Malts Spice King 12 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch Whisky | 0 | 0 | £42.45 |
| Very Old & Rare Advent Calendar – Walnut (2019 Edition) Blended Whisky | 0 | 0 | £ |
| Glenlivet 34 Year Old 150th Anniversary | 0 | 0 | £1800 |
| Turning Point Carolina Rye Rye Spirit | 0 | 0 | £44.95 |
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.