Sutcliffe & Son Exceptional Grain Scotch Whisky

A blend of remarkable aged grain whiskies, including a barrel of 30-year-old from the Carsebridge Distillery, long since closed. Blended by Willie Phillips, formerly of The Macallan; finished in first-fill sherry casks. Subtle, elegant, authentically individual, with great structure. Grain whiskies (wheat and corn) are the basis for all blended Scotch whiskies. Usually blended with malt whiskies, by themselves they possess a calm, rich flavor that is rounder and less arid than blended Scotch; in The Exceptional, finishing in first-fill sherry casks (photo is of Lustau’s Bodegain Spain) adds a dried-fruit richness to the whiskey’s body. Ansley prefers grain to malt Scotches.