Because of the pronounced fruity aroma, experts call Highland Legend blended whiskey berry. Scotch is easy to drink, goes well with dry red wines, white vermouth and juices – apple, orange, grape, so it is often used in cocktails. The manufacturer managed to create a budget drink for a wide range of whiskey lovers, while retaining the key taste qualities of Scottish blends.
About company. Angus Dundee Company, one of the largest exporters of Scotch whiskey, was founded in 1950 in London, but at first it was engaged only in bottling ready-made drinks – gin, whiskey, liqueurs, and exporting to European countries and the USA. Terry Hillman is now the head of the firm. It was his father, Sidney Hillman, who founded Burn Stewart in 1948, which owns three Speyside distilleries, but sold the assets in 1988. Terry decided to start the alcohol business anew and, for a start, repurposed the Angus Dundee Company, turning the exporting company into a real manufacturer. The reform took time and investment, but at the beginning of the XNUMXst century, when the company bought two distilleries one after the other, things went smoothly.
Terry Hillman was the first to buy the Tomintoul distillery (Gaelic for “barn on the hill”) in Speyside in 2000. The capacities were mothballed, and the equipment obsolete, but a small supply of alcohol saved the situation. For 2 years, the enterprise was repaired, equipment was updated and a large bottling center was built with 14 vats for storing spirits – based on large production volumes.
At the distillery Tomintoul, in addition to the single malt whiskey of the same name, spirits for blends are produced. Tomintoul manager Robert Fleming says that their spirits allow you to create many blends, responding to market demands in a timely manner, and sometimes ahead of demand. And even if the customer wants to get an exclusive blend in one day, it is possible, Fleming is sure. The main whiskeys of the distillery are the single malt Tomintoul and the Ballantruan blend, the blend of which consists of a 5-year-old peaty Tomintoul and an 8-year-old non-peat Tomintoul.
The second distillery – Glencadam (translated from the Gaelic – “valley of wild geese”) in the Highlands, Terry Hillman bought in 2003. Already then the enterprise was 180 years old and during this time many owners have changed. Hillman bought the distillery in a dilapidated state, but refurbished and resumed production within a year. Glencadam is located in the Moorans hills with the famous sources of soft water, which is used in the preparation of whiskey. It has its own bottling and packaging lines, 16 vats for mixing malt and grain whiskey, 6 fermentation vats and 5 underground warehouses with stocks of spirits. In 2005, the first release of a fifteen-year-old Glencadam single malt whiskey was released, and in 2009 – whiskey with an exposure of 25 and 30 years.
Highland Legend whiskey features
Blended Highland Legend is created at the Tomintoul distillery using local and Glencadam spirits aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Finishing – the process of “additional aging” takes place already in sherry casks, which give the whiskey the taste and aroma of dried fruits, caramel and vanilla.
Scotch “Highland Legends” honey color, has a strength of 40%, soft long aftertaste with a hint of peat smoke, like all Scotch whiskey.
Whiskey rating Jim Murray, author of the Whiskey Bible, is quite high – 75 points out of 100.
Russian experts note the almost complete absence of alcohol aftertaste, and compare the aroma with the long-forgotten smell of the children’s drink “Citro” and predict the success of Highland Legend among domestic Scotch whiskey lovers.