J&A Mitchell Blended Malt | 46% ABV

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Consistently good, but still, which one is it?*

When there’s no good reason

The Online Scotch Whisky Awards are upon us. If it was up to me, I’d skip straight to the nominations with a full suite of bangers that fit the categories perfectly. I’d then leave the chips to fall as they may, in the knowledge that whatever wins will be worthy.

But it’s not up to me. In fact, for Dramface it’s down to just one of our writers to rally everyone else eligible and refine our input down to that of a team effort. Not easy, but doable, and much better than having just Wally get his way. I really hope, however, that in 2023 those who receive those coveted nominations are indeed worthy. That is, those who focus on making money by making good whisky rather than those who make good money making whisky.

The OSWAs should try to avoid becoming a way of measuring what sells well or what is popular, it should focus on what deserves to sell well. Anyway, I digress. Let me just put it out there that I would be very keen to put this forward as not only a solid entry in its own Blended Malt category, but I’d argue the case for it in the Best Value category also.

I have of course reviewed this already in 2022, and I declared it to be the missing puzzle piece for Campbeltown whisky. I was pretty positive. It seems you were too, as they’ve been releasing rather a lot of it since, by Springbank standards at least. We have a decent sipper at a great price and pouring it for literally anyone would have little risk of blushes. It’s just good malt whisky.

But with that added effort to get more out there, we can see something manifest that seems to exemplify the J & A Mitchell philosophy; the issue of batch variation. Have a look at the images of the four bottles I have on hand, they’re all different batches, and clearly from different vattings, visually quite different. And that’s before we even get any in the glass.

This is not a negative thing.

Consider that, even if stocks were very deep and plentiful (they’re not) and even if vattings were huge and global (also not) we are speaking of malts from a maximum of three distilleries. To put something together to try and force our precious malt to behave in a consistent way, every time, is not only to unnecessarily force what should not be forced, but also to rail against what malt drinkers want; variety.

One of the greatest pleasures of single malt whisky is its variation, even when it’s from the same ‘single’ location. Why should that ideal be toggled off when it becomes a blended product? It has been blended, in this case, not to offer the same experience every time, but the same minimum quality every time - at an accessible price. It does this very well.

This review isn’t about the different batches here or which one is the best. I’ll summarise by saying I’d pick the earliest batch every time for my own palate but the more recent, darker bottlings are every bit as good, they’re just a little more cask-over-spirit in storyline than the paler two. My favourite is the mineralic December 2021 bottle which I’ve recently polished off with a pal. I’d bought this second bottle you see sealed here as a back up when I realised how much I liked it. This is the bottle reviewed in that March 2022 review. I’m not hoarding, there’s millions of this stuff in the markets it currently serves. Hopefully, the silly elevated prices we saw when first released have long been kicked into touch. Do not overpay for this, regardless of batch. Call out those retailers who are at it.

What this review is about though, is the slightly frustrating element of determining which batch is which. You may think that the colour alone, especially since it’s natural - thank you Springbank - may be enough and you’d be right. Just grabbing one of these should have you parked in front of a nice bottle you can love from pop to pour every time. To weave in batches may be overly complicating what is a simple product and a straightforward value proposition. But we are enthusiasts, we are interested in the minutiae, the quirks, the complications and all the little devils hidden in the detail.

As you can see from the list below of the four bottles in the images, I can see the little inkjet batch number on every bottle, but I was out with the phone torch and magnifier to read them. Old age doesn’t come alone.

We have here, from left to right,

C’TOWN LOCH 08.12.21 21/206
CAMPBELTOWN LOCH 25.7.22 22/150
CAMPBELTOWN LOCH 3.10.22 22/156
CAMPBELTOWN LOCH 24.11.22 22/231

So the numbers are a simple DD/MM/YY format with a year designator followed by a sequential operation counter. I imagine that the vat is emptied each time, although this may not always be the case. So we do have batches recorded and relayed, it’s just that they’re, well, invisible. Pretty much. Especially on the bottles containing the darker coloured batches.

Have a little look at how Piccadilly’s Indri Three Wood is revealing the detail, batch by batch, what’s the problem with doing things a little more like this? Yes, it would require modifications to the line and label, but is that difficult? Especially when it’s something that’s already being done, I think not.

The benefit is not only that we can determine, instantly, which is which, but also that Springbank would be further demonstrating their philosophy; that a minimum quality expectation has been met and that the batches will - and should - vary. It would also encourage online retailers to list which batch it is, we can’t all get to specialists with our wee magnifiers or phone cameras set to zoom.

While we’re here, shouldn’t this be the way with all of their releases? It would certainly make things a lot easier with the core range as well as Glengyle 8yo Cask Strength releases and - the worst offender of all - Springbank 12 Cask Strength. As far as I’m aware, the only batch labelled product is their Peat-in-Progress Heavily Peated Kilkerran.

I know you’ve heard me make this argument before on other releases from other producers, I just feel like for the Mitchell’s team making magic down on the Kintyre peninsula it could simply be an oversight that they may be willing to consider embracing.

If there’s a good reason not to do it, I’ve yet to hear it.

Also, while you’re at it, add the natural status of the whisky please. Non-chill filtered and natural colour, even from Springbank, isn’t a given when it’s not written there right on the bottle label.

They’ve led the way in every other aspect, and this isn’t a change, rather a refinement.

Review

Campbeltown Loch, Blended Malt Whisky, bottle code 03.10.22 22/156 & bottle code 24.11.22 22/231, 46% ABV
£40 & £42 paid, widely available.

I’ve decided to focus on the two darker bottles here, and I know they’re bottled in 2022. This review is titled 2023, but it would’ve been early this year before we saw these available widely. Also, in my own experience, they fit closer in profile to the more recent 2023 bottlings too. While I’ve not done a side-by-side (almost everything on Dramface are our own bottles and I can’t buy every batch) the differences between my two darker bottles are minimal. The most recent is a tiny touch lighter and by an even lesser margin dryer, but the notes fit nicely on both.

However, if you have a lighter-coloured batch, the original review would be more useful to you.

Nose

Milk chocolate and cold coffee. Raisins, trifle, caramel and toasted oak.

Palate

Soft, round and sherry-forward on arrival, but sweetened sherry, not dry. Milk chocolate hazelnut pralines with soft spices; cardamon and clove. A reasonably long finish that ends on a lightly bitter edge, the chocolate has switched to dark. Water softens things further and isn’t needed.

The Dregs

Sipping these made me think I preferred the slightly more spirit-forward earlier batches, so I poured a little of the July 2022 coded bottle and yes, that’s true. There’s a fruitier freshness and a slightly peppery grip added with a mineralic fizz that makes things a little more pleasing for me. Yet objectively, this remains good, easy sipping whisky and regardless of which batch you grab, you’ll be in good company.

The rumours have moved towards this being mostly Glengyle malt (Kilkerran) in the mix here and that would make a lot of sense, despite that distillery only running 25% of the year (from the same team - and malt - as Springbank) they’ve been making whisky since 2004 ,and a lot more since 2018, they’ve gotta free up that precious warehouse space somehow. Why not step in to alleviate some of the demand for Campbeltown whisky with a good honest malt blend?

Next time you head along to your local retailer, I’d encourage anyone who’s curious to just go ahead and give this a try and go on colour, for now. If you’re after more details on which batch it is, just remember to carry your magnifier.

Score: 7/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. WMc

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