Hogshead Fine Old Blended Malt Scotch Whisky - A sweet piggy bank Whisky blogger Luka Gottschalk

Our Whisky Blogger tastes Hogshead Fine Old Blended Malt Scotch Whisky. This whisky leaves a lot to the imagination. Read more about what our whisky blogger has to say about the sweet piggy.

Post by Luka Gottschalk

I have once again been given the great honor of telling you about a whisky I have tasted. This time it's a Blended Malt (no grain) whisky called; Hogshead. Hogshead Blended Malt is a creation of Signatory Vintage, a highly recognized independent bottler and the owners of Edradour distillery.

A mystery bottle

This blend is said to consist primarily of Islay whisky, it is unaged and we have no idea what it actually contains. We do know that it is bottled at 43% alcohol. The label doesn't tell us much else, but we do have a nice little pint in focus that acts as a nice little play on the name: Hogshead. Hogshead refers, under normal circumstances, to one of the most commonly used types of cask storage barrels in Scotland, namely a ''hogshead'' barrel of around 200 liters.

The sweet, the smoky and the maritime

In the glass, the whisky appears inviting with its beautiful light amber color. The aroma doesn't scream scratchy Islay whisky, rather it is gentle and cautious with its scent of: Fresh oranges, a hint of pepper, gentle smoke, mint and a yeasty element.

The finish remains in the sweet range with notes of grapes, sweet Finnish licorice and dark bread. After some time, a note of slightly fruity acidity remained. I did not perceive the aftertaste as particularly long, but quite pleasant and well-balanced.

A familiar experience

Since we are not told which single malts are used in this blend, it leaves room for guesswork. From my own personal tasting experience, I would guess that Islay the components come from either Lagavulin or Bowmore. As I said, there is no way of knowing, but I certainly thought it brought back memories of the aforementioned distilleries. In addition to this, it is my firm belief that this blend also contains a good amount of Edradour. The sherry-sweet fruity character fits very well with how I perceive Edradour's expression. It would also be a natural fit, now that Signatory Vintage owns Edradour! But I must emphasize that it is all, as I said, guesswork and my own personal opinion.

A cute piggy bank

At the end of the day, this whisky is an excellent take on a gentle, sweet and 'friendly' smoked whisky. Because even though there is a main ingredient of Islay, there are also sherry casks and definitely a good amount of Highland/Speyside whisky in the blend. Therefore, I would recommend Hogshead Blended Malt either to those of you who are not normally big smoke divers, but who still enjoy gentle smoke in an otherwise sweet and mild whisky. At first encounter on the tongue, it appeared very gentle and balanced, as expected. The gentle smoke hits the taste buds first, followed by the sweetness of sherry, fruit bolts and a slight maritime hint.

For fans of: Highland Park 12 years, Benromach 10 years, Ballechin 10 years

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