Monkey Shoulder Speyside Blended Malt Scotch Whisky [700ML]

Monkey Shoulder is a blended malt Scotch whisky launched in 2005 and expertly blended and married together mainly with small batches of 3 different Speyside whiskies. Blended Malt Scotch whisky means it was created using 100% malt whisky. The 3 different Speyside whiskies are from William Grant & Sons own distilleries, Glenfiddich, The Balvenie and Kininvie. Kininvie distillery was built on the grounds of The Balvenie distillery in 1990 and the malts created here are mainly used for blended whisky. The exact formula for the Monkey Shoulder blend is a closely guarded secret and there may be some other undisclosed distillery.

William Grant & Sons is an independent, family-owned Scottish company that distils Scotch whisky and other categories of spirit such as Hendrick’s Gin. William Grant established this brand in 1887 and is still run by descendants of his family today. The current Chairman of the Company is Glenn Gordon who is a direct descendant of William Grant since 2012. The brand also launched in the United States in 2012 but due to unforeseen rapid popularity in the States, Monkey Shoulder fell into a short supply in 2014, losing its popularity.

The name Monkey Shoulder comes from the traditional malt whisky-making process. In the old days, malt men would use large heavy malt shovels to turn malted barley by hand. Some of these malt men would develop a strain injury which had the tendency to cause their arm to hang down a little like a monkey and they nicknamed this condition “Monkey Shoulder”. The condition no longer exists but William Grant & Sons honour this whisky heritage. The bottle is labelled “Batch 27” as a reference to the original experimental batching of 27 casks. Bottled at the standard 40% ABV.

TO THE EYE

Bright golden yellow.

TO THE NOSE

Zesty orange meets mellow vanilla, honey and spiced oak.

TO THE TONGUE

Mellow vanilla with spicy hints.

TO THE END

Medium smooth finish.