by Pat Phipps
Never heard of The Singleton?
You will. And if owners Diagio plc have any say in it you will hear a lot more!
Diagio is a British -based multinational beverage company, headquartered in London. The company operates in over 180 countries and it produces more than 140 sites around the world.
UK£26,400 will get you a taste of “scented hand-cream, rose water and exotic tropical and berry fruit’ notes on the nose, with dried figs and a suggestion of toffee
With whisky brands including Talisker and Lagavulin, Diagio’s aim is to have the Singleton brand at the top of worldwide sales in whisky to rival the likes of Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet.
Side Bar – The Dufftown 53 year old
Recently a cask of a 53-year-old whisky was found at Dufftown.
Laid down in 1964, it is said to be one of those types of casks that was more or less found lying around.
117 bottles at 40.6 % were filled and if you have a spare UK£26,400 lying around you can have a one – at that price, probably just to look at!.
This rather costly bottling forms part of the new Paragon of Time collection.
According to one commentator, your UK£26,400 will get you a taste of “scented hand-cream, rose water and exotic tropical and berry fruit’ notes on the nose, with dried figs and a suggestion of toffee. Another commentator notes that the finish is very elegant and sweet, and with a slight smoky, ginger spice aftertaste.
Make of that what you will.
For me, though, I’m still trying to get over the £26,000!
So what exactly is The Singleton?
The Singleton (reputedly Gaelic for “single malt”) is a cover-all brand name for a range of single malts from three Speyside distilleries – Glen Ord, Glendullan and Dufftown.
These three distilleries can each boast great lineage. Glen Ord was established in 1838, Dufftown in 1895 and Glendullan in 1897. Both Dufftown and Glendullan have an entry level Non-Aged Statement whisky, and all three distilleries have 12, 15 and 18 years old on offer.
I wanted to check the Singleton whiskies out to see if they were any good and to compare them to their market rivals. So off I toddled to a local liquor store to purchase two entry level Singletons to try.
My purchases were The Singleton Speycascade and The Singleton Tailfire. Both are from Dufftown, both non-age statement single malts, both 40% abv.
And both involved the princely outlay of NZ$68 each – another blow for the Whiskies Under $100 crusade!
In line with other distilleries at the entry level, neither has comment on the label about being non chill filtered or coloured.
I have read some mixed reviews of these two drams on other tasting web site. Overall they have favourable ratings that are similar to most competitors in the field.
The Singleton Speycascade
The label on the bottle describes Speycascade as “Rich Balanced Smooth”.
My notes are:
Colour: medium golden a combination of ex Bourbon and Sherry casks
Nose: green apple, honey and vanilla and leather polish
Palate: soft and oily with mouth feel very smooth
After Taste: Slightly dry and mildly tannic with a short finish
The Singleton Tailfire
The label description comments “Vibrant Fruity Fresh”.
My notes:
Colour: medium Golden a combination of European and American Oak casks
Nose: Fruity, fresh, dark fruits and slight grapefruit
Palate: oily with mouth feel and sweet, slightly thin, fruity
After Taste: sweet and coats the mouth nicely
Would I buy The Singleton again?
The two entry-level whiskies are completely different to each other. And I like that. It gives the consumer (me) the chance to try two very different styles from the same distiller at very competitive pricing. As expected, the Singletons are non-challenging, but they are a good introduction to single malts.
I could easily see myself drinking one after work as a go-to dram – something we all need at some stage or another!
I am looking forward to trying other Singleton whiskies in the future. A particular interest will be in the age statement expressions to see how they measure up.