Usquaebach Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky 750ml

Usquaebach ‘Reserve’ Blended Scotch Whisky is a rare blend comprised of more than 50% quality single malts each aged between 16, 17 & 18 years blended with the finest grain whisky. Nose of butter cookies, whole grain bread, wild flower, honey, and baked pear. Soft peat palate with dried heather and crisp apple. Smooth finish with hints of bitter orange & clove.

Vital Stats: 43 percent alcohol by volume, blend of 16 to 18-year-old single malts and balanced out by younger malts.

Appearance: Comes in a regal, translucent-green, glass bottle with labels designed to look like aged parchment. In the glass, Usquaebach takes on the bright gold color of honey.

Nose: A breath in brings first a smooth, sweet vanilla scent, which matures into a growing floral aroma that tickles the nose with hints of citrus.

Palate: Suavely eases onto the tongue with sweetness and texture of a creamy caramel with a hint of smoke. While dominated by the sweet caramel flavor, the whisky gives light tingles to the tongue and sides of the mouth while taking on a faint undertone of mulling spices. Leaves the tongue with faint tingles, but mostly the caramelly sweetness persists for another minute or so.

As a longtime history enthusiast, I’ve always found myself dangerously disarmed by the promotional pitch that a product has a direct line to the past and that – especially with something like whiskey – the product gives modern consumers about the same experience as those consuming it hundreds of years ago.

Yet, even while keeping up a skeptical guard, Usquaebach Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky and ‘Old-Rare’ Superior Blended Scotch Whisky, both purportedly made of blends dating back to the 18th Century, would have likely taken me hook, line, and sinker by their spicy, sweet flavor and smooth finish, regardless of the history of the brand.