SIA SCOTCH BY CARIN LUNA-OSTASESKI

Here's a bit of an unusual story, well unusual in whisky circles at least... but never the less a good one :-)
You ever hear of Crowd Funding? ...and the way its been applied here has made a dream come true for the founder of SIA Scotch, Carin Luna Ostaseski.

After a steep self learning curve, reading, attending events and eventually doing tastings herself, Carin found a certain taste profile that she feels hits peoples palates... and the result is the SIA Scotch... and after teaming up with importer Spirit Imports Inc. who then connected with independent bottler Douglas Laing to create SIA, a blend was born...

Currently only available in the US (California and Illinois) Carin hopes to have SIA expand through online retailers both in the US as well as internationally as well as a product line extension in the future.

But let's have a look at what I'm about to taste...

We're dealing with a blend, as in a blend of Scottish malt and grain whisky.... and here's the breakdown:

The malt content is as follows (undisclosed distilleries):
Speyside 50%, Highlands 40% and finally Islay 10%

The malt/grain ratio is 40/60 and all contents are aged between 5-9yo

Carin with the SIA - picture courtesy of siascotch.com

SIA Scotch Blended, 43% by Carin Luna-Ostaseski

Colour is straw

Nose:
What strikes me first here is the freshness... then Citrus, mainly peeled tangerines, fresh laundry, (powdered) ginger, vanilla, noticeable small grains adds again to the freshness. A hint of smokiness in there as well as fresh toast, cardboard/wet newspaper and black pepper.

Taste:
The arrival certainly benefits from being 43% rather than 40%. The tangerines are present again along with a slight metallic note. Also quite some vanilla and spicy notes, apple, honey, toasted oak, pine nuts and ruccola (salad). Meanwhile a slight smoke edge builds up in the back of your mouth giving it some added weight.

This is an easy drinker that can be enjoyed both neat, with ice or in a cocktail... and I'm betting that's what Carin was aiming for with this release. I'd suspect some new-to-whisky drinkers might find its smoky edge just bit too much, but its got the right ratio in a blend for me and this will certainly pass the 'session whisky' test. I'm betting this is one you can sip with ice all evening without feeling you've had enough. More here

Official sample and pictures provided by SIA Scotch

81/100!

'FROM THE BARREL' - NIKKA

Moving from 3 blended malts - Taketsuru - on to another product from the gentlemen at Nikka Whisky. Again, as with the Taketsurus, we're dealing with whisky from Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries, but this time grain whisky has also been added.

As to the origins of the grain whisky, it most likely coming from Miyagikyo distillery as well, since some of their production equipment is also configured to make grain whisky. This is, though, just my qualified guess... Why, you ask? Well, it's most likely not bought from other Japanese distillers, since its not a part of Japanese culture/tradition to do business with their competitors... therefore, I'm guess it's either Miyagikyo grain or grain whisky bought in from i.e. Scotland.

Another trait of this blend is that its gone through a period of 'marrying', which means its not just blended and then bottled - 'Marrying' means it has been recasked for a period of time to allow for the malt and grain whisky to interact with each other, providing a more harmonious product.

Oh, and then its bottle at a very nice 51,4% alcohol - big thumbs up for that!!

Now the big question is... is it really more harmonious?

'From the Barrel' blended whisky, 51,4%, batch 02B62A, 50cl bottle, Nikka

Colour is light mahogany

Nose:
Hints of ale and peat, vanilla, light oak/sawdust, some fruit, tobacco, moss and mere hints of burning incense

Taste:
Dark fruits sherry style, spices - cloves and nutmeg, good malty edge suggesting a high malt content. Mulled fruit, mild honey and some vegetative notes and a clear burst of peat. The grain in this is not really showing and I'm betting this whisky could easily fool a lot of people into believing its a malt.

Also the 51,4% alcohol does quite a lot for this whisky, making sure its delivery is powerful enough to impress from the first sip, yet it also manages to be not be overpowering in its delivery of the underlying notes.... and the reason for that is probably because of mellow grain whisky influence. This is high quality stuff!! and at a decent price too...

Please note that it only comes in a 50cl bottle and that this whisky comes in marked batches...
The batch number is located in the lower right corner of the front label on the bottle.

87/100!

Note 05.10.2013: After the bottle have been open for about 1 month now, more grain notes are starting to come through, making the whole experience quite sweet and less complex, the peated notes are gone too. This is making me drop my score from 87 to 83... but still good whisky, no doubt about that!