The Golden Age Blend refers to the ‘Golden Age’ of distilling from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s, being made exclusively with whiskies that are at least 40 years old. Malts from Macallan, Glenrothes and Tamdhu are used, along with a little peated Bunnahabhain to add the ‘seasoning’.
I believe Bunnahabhain ceased its maltings in 1963 and started ordering unpeated malt since then, but the people from Master of Malt confirmed this was probably some leftover smokiness from a refill cask.
An extremely old grain from North British was selected to complete the blend and bring the different components together, with a ratio of 4 parts malt used to just 1 part grain.
Since a few months, we’re seeing more of these old blends and blended malts, with Glenrothes and Tamdhu being mentioned often (see this or this). They’re usually very high quality and prices tend to be relatively low (not this time though).
The Golden Age Blend (44,3%, The Blended Whisky Co. 2016, 210 btl.)
Nose: just excellent. Highly elegant sherry notes. Lots of polished furniture, juicy plums and toffee. Sultanas and red berries with some dried apricots and soft vanilla / fruit cake. Juicy with a pleasant acidity and light floral touches. Subtle wood spices too.
Mouth: gentle but not too thin, spicy with some delicious oak and plenty of fruity notes. Oranges, blackberries, gooseberry tartlets. Fruit tea. Cinnamon and nutmeg. A little aniseed. Very little grain character to be noticed.
Finish: long, oaky but not tannic, with some mint and echoes of fruits.
Rather brilliant and one of the best blends I’ve tried. It’s expensive, perhaps because it contains such old Macallan, but at least you get a unique blend that actually feels like a single malt. Around € 450.
Score: 91/100