Now & Then

Is whisky the same today as it was in the past?

How far back do you want to go?

Notwithstanding Robert Burns’ 1785 lamentation that the Forbes family’s “chartered boast” [to distil free of excise duty] had been “tae’n awa” by the government, the rapidly made spirit at their Ferintosh distilleries on the Black Isle was probably pretty nasty, as was all ‘licensed whisky’. In Ireland this was scornfully called ‘Government whiskey’. ‘Unlicensed whisky’ – i.e. illicit – was more highly esteemed.

But in those days, and well into the nineteenth century, whisky was generally drunk as punch, with the addition of sugar and lemon juice (and various kitchen spices, if desired) or ‘toddy’ (the same but warm) to make it palatable. Only when blended Scotch took off, after 1860, did blenders start creating lighter, sweeter and less smoky whiskies that had a broader appeal. It was invariably drunk with soda water – and this was the case until at least the 1960s.

Although he only devoted five pages to Scotch whisky in his ‘Notes on a Cellar-book’ (1920), Professor George Saintsbury reflected:

“In the forty-five years since I began to study whisky I have noticed that the general style of most if not all has changed, owing to the comparative disuse of ‘toddy’ and the substitution of whisky-and-soda, or potash. The older whiskies were darker in colour, from being kept in golden sherry or madeira casks, rather sweeter in taste, and rather heavier in texture; the newer are ‘lighter’ in both the first and the last respect, and much drier in taste”.

During the 1920s and ‘30s the leading London wine merchants, Berry Bros. and Justerini & Books produced blends which were even blander – Cutty Sark and J&B Rare – for the American market, and a decade later Black & White tried, disastrously, to compete with a ‘lighter’ expression of their brand, which simply served to confuse bartenders and consumers and was soon withdrawn.

During the 1960s and ‘70s many aspects of production were adjusted, in the interests of efficiency, productivity and economy. Responsible whisky companies went – and continue to go to great lengths to make sure there was/is no change in spirit character, but inevitably there was – a phenomenon known as ‘flavour drift’. This was epitomised for me by a recent conversation with Emma Walker, Master Blender of Johnnie Walker:

“[At Diageo] We do everything humanly possible to ensure we minimise flavour drift - from ongoing stock review with new make and cask quality checks, to keeping standard references in small bottles (70 cl decanted in 7 x 100ml bottles, each remaining sealed until the previous bottle has been used in order to minimise opening and headspace increase); to trending of blend batches (comparing batches to ensure no outliers or drift); and using chemical analysis to support our primary sensory assessments”.

For several years I met with a few whisky connoisseur friends to compare whiskies made before 1990 with their contemporary equivalents. The tasting was blind and we had to guess which was the former and which the latter – we called our meetings ‘Now and Then’. We also discussed the samples and scored them out of ten. On the dozen occasions on which we met, we invariably chose Now and Then correctly, and, alas, the earlier whisky always scored more highly than the contemporary sample.

Recently, I was tidying my tasting room and found a box of blended whisky samples dating mainly from the 1960s and 70s. Some were well known brands – Chivas Regal 12YO, Ballantine’s 12YO, Dewar’s Ancestor, Black & White – others obscure and long discontinued whiskies – Thorne’s 10YO, Ambassador 12YO, McGregor’s 20YO, Horse Guards, Old Shepp...

They had been given to me in 2020 by a friend who wanted my opinion of their quality, especially in regard to how their flavours might be differ from today’s blends, so the 10cl bottles were at least half empty. The gap between the liquid level and the top of the bottle is called the ‘head-space’, and the greater the head-space the more likely it is that the whisky will lose vitality, and I expected the worst.

So you can imagine my delight when I discovered they were still in good shape, and over the next few days I polished them off with help from knowledgeable friends. All of them were different in character to today’s blends – generally heavier, often faintly waxy, with traces of sandalwood and occasionally very slightly peaty. They were good examples of ‘flavour drift’.

If you buy a bottle of whisky at auction, single malt or blended Scotch, which you know to have been released some years ago, acquire a bottle of the same make and age (if the earlier bottle has an age statement, and compare the two to assess their differences. A fascinating and most enjoyable past-time!