Thompson Bros TB/BSW 6yo
Blended Scotch Whisky | 46% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A sherry bomb with explosive bang for buck value
Blends are back, baby
In June 2023 the price for a coffee at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne is $6. You can’t get a hot mug of milk enhanced java with the cheapest note of true blue dollar-bucks (a fiver). Not to get into a depressing tirade of inflation economics in a whisky article, but the reality is that what we can buy, even as a standard, is much higher on the pole vault bar.
We’re seeing it not just with consumables but with the foundation of our everyday lives. Being in the middle class, you could own a house with enough of a backyard to kick a ball around or host a healthy-sized bbq. But unless you’re pulling six-figures plus, living debt-free (not fancy-free), you’re going to have to adjust your expectations for what you can get to ground yourself. So it may not be a surprise when you’re looking elsewhere as the kind of whisky you’ve been getting the last decade has accelerated in price from a slow crawl to a 400m sprint, Usain Bolt style.
One style in particular that’s only grown in lustre are decadent sherry bombs. Once upon a time, ex-oloroso matured whisky was a classic and seen in greater proportions due to a more burgeoning sherry market. What was the go-to aperitif for the masses is now just an alcoholic moistener for our yearly Christmas trifle. I’m sure there are pockets in craft drinking where sherry is given the attention and love it deserves, but among the populace it is but a vintage relic, left to lie in the graves of nostalgia along with disco and shoulder-pads.
In whisky, however, we’re learning about sherry to understand more about our malts. Amontillado, Fino, Manzanilla, all terms in the whisky lexicon that we’re seeing much more of these days compared to 10 years ago. Sherry is the shiny ball and whether it’s a fleeting fad or a new benchmark for the whisky palate remains to be seen. My hunch would be that since sherry has faded into a level obscurity as a wine, that casks are more expensive to come by, feeding into the frankly hysterical hyper-premiumisation of sherry-casked whisky. This boom of sherry-seasoned cask production should in concept help curb prices, but the dark temptation of these decadent delights have kept prices and hype up.
A name synonymous with sherry bombs is Glendronach - almost exclusively stocking their spirit to lie in ex-sherry, they’re a stalwart of the sherry style and a solid example of why I see some validation to the hype. The elegance yet pared back approachability has led to a mass fanaticism for the stuff, with vintages flying off shelves but also their OB range getting some good love in retail. All leading to a truly mad leap in prices for large batch core range distillery bottlings, a leap of $180AUD to $280AUD for Glendronach 18 or $250AUD to $350AUD comparing from 2020 to 2023. $100 or roughly 60-70% increase in price in less than three years is not replicated in just about any market or price trajectory.
So, if you’re a Glendronach fan who needs to have their Allardice on a roll, then you’re simply stuffed. Unless you can see what else may be out there in the shelves, if you’re willing to adjust those parameters at all.
Blends can be quite the dirty word if you’ve had your beak deep in whisky. In the age of single origins and sourcing producers, there’s a desired exclusivity and transparency which continues to propel single malts. The blend-heavy world of whisky past now inconceivable.
However, putting our smug noses aside, could blends be a more affordable option to tickle certain sought after flavours that are now unreachable for middle-class mortals? In concept, blends should be more popular, people with more expertise than this green-nose writing here have access to varieties of spirit to recreate flavours and profiles they know we would like.
The loss of exclusivity and brand marketing also drops the price, as well as the additional grain, a more silent spirit that may not spare character in a whisky at younger ages. Despite whatever grievances you could conjure, the market is speaking for itself, blends are in the conversation and they have a pretty solid case for themselves.
A Campbeltown Loch perhaps being a more attainable way of getting some Springbank without having to brave the hells of secondary pricing. Tyree offers an alternative to Islay single malts with the blends from Elixir as well as Wally’s case for Maclean’s Nose deserving your attention.
When it comes to a blend trying to fashion itself as a sherry bomb however, there is one that’s garnered a fair bit of chatter.
Review
Thompson Bros TB/BSW 6yo, Blended Scotch Whisky 46% ABV
£34 everywhere in UK/Europe
Thompson Bros are renowned for their stylish labels and consistently stellar indies, often highlighting the features of single malt distillates that makes them distinctive. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a blend after some years of mostly focusing on single malt releases. In their own words, the TB/BSW was designed to “celebrate sherry maturation”, taking attention away from the distillate and getting us to draw more from the cask.
A seemingly risky proposition, but a successful alternative to triple digit prices for a distillery name that’s only going to be washed out by cloying sherry casks is a hope too bright for me to look away from.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A sherry bomb with explosive bang for buck value
Nose
The smells of Jerez calls as I begin with freshly twisted orange rinds and toasted walnuts. Deep sherry continues with sultanas soaked in cointreau, a slight swerve with juiced chinotto, finally ending with a familiar pinch of dark cocoa powder. A classic sherried nose.
Palate
Equal amounts of oily astringent citrus with Seville orange marmalade and blood orange juice followed by walnut bitters dashed into a negroni. Sherry-soaked butter cake and dark chocolate nougat ramp up the decadence. A medium finish with the spice of a speculoos.
The Dregs
This and the Maclean’s Nose were a wake-up call for me. The palate for price ratio with these kinds of blends borders on ludicrous. Is this whisky as textural or as complex as a Glendronach 18? Perhaps not. But does it deliver a decently aged sherried profile, free of excess tannins and unwanted sulphur at an almost laughable price when considered next to even the most basic of basic sherried single malts? Yes. Stuff like this is a reminder that we need to change our parameters every once in a while. The great whisky machine chugs along, indifferent to who provides fuel for its wares, and sadly clinging to the same bottles may leave us behind. I may have said goodbye to Glendronach in 2020, but in 2023 I’m saying hello to blends.
Score: 7/10 CD
Dougie’s Review
Thompson Bros TB/BSW 6yo, Blended Scotch Whisky 46% ABV
£34 everywhere in UK/Europe
I’d already tried the SRV5 and loved the easy going nature of the tropical fruity value beast, and was aware of the “sister” dram in the TB/BSW, despite never being able to remember such a challenging acronym and thus never really getting around to buying. It wasn’t until the recent auction cycle did I decide to have a crack, placing a £26 maximum bid that saw me win a bottle of Batch 001 TB/BSW, the inaugural batch that, according to legend, is teaspooned Macallan. I’ve no concrete evidence either way but the chance to try alleged Macallan without the guff surrounding it, and weak official presentation, makes this inherently of interest.
Score: 7/10
Very good indeed.
TL;DR
A superb value proposition for raisin heads
Nose
Raisins and date sponge - just before the caramel sauce is tipped over it to make it sticky toffee pudding. Dark toffees, on the verge of treacle. The faintest of match striker and sweet oak hints. Cola cubes maybe. A fantastic whisky to nose despite the fairly tight group of flavours to be found.
Palate
Rich, inviting, fruity sweet goodness. Raisins are here. Toffee is here. Golden syrup. Spices - ginger definitely. A bit of pepper, yet not hot, spice too. Orange zest. A really mellow, all-evening dram, especially close to or after dessert. It’s fairly neat on the flavour array, yet the flavours available are lovely and moreish.
Chewits / Maoam on the death - strawberry or cola most likely.
The Dregs
Not really being a raisin geek, the initial presentation had me indifferent, but now, after almost a half-bottle of it, I’m coming around to the rich dark fruits and sumptuously simple date sponge palate. A cracking value proposition and another string to the bow of hugely flavourful, accessible whisky club.
It’s not a question of if you should buy one, but really when.
Score: 7/10 DC
Wally’s Review
Thompson Bros TB/BSW 6yo, Blended Scotch Whisky 46% ABV
£34 everywhere in UK/Europe
A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes.
So…
Score: 7/10
Very good indeed.
TL;DR
The only thing to do here is be grateful
Nose
Balanced doses of everything you expect and look for in whisky of this colour and provenance; all those juicy cooked fruits and a background of something vinous yet green, like indoor vines or a warm greenhouse. A little soft ginger backing things up too. Something fusty; a suggestion of age way beyond six years. Wonderfully gentle and fragrant.
Palate
The arrival is softer than you might expect, 46% ABV is respectable and something else I’m grateful for, but it hides it, not a bad thing. Pour this for your most alcohol-feart friend and they’ll be happy. Juicy, round and fruity. Light to medium in body but with a velvety texture and a little soft fizz. Poached figs and sticky dates, nutmeg, light clove and orange cordial. Water brings a burst of spice and even a little pepper, but makes you wish you hadn’t. It’s great just as is.
The Dregs
I’m often asked to recommend a whisky for someone I know to be a sherry-matured fan. They love the rich and decadent fruit and spice from such a cask and I can see why. But making a recommendation, for years, has been difficult. Macallan 12yo Sherry Oak, Glenturret 12yo, Glendronach and more - all worthy at some point, but expensive for most. Especially when spending more than £50 on whisky causes a panic attack, which affects the majority of my pals still. They are constantly staring at the creaking shelves of the pit, googly-eyed and afraid to ask. This settles that angst.
There are many tales around how this whisky came to be. I really don’t know whether it’s happy accident or deliberate alchemy from the wizards of Dornoch, but the thing we do know to be true, for me, is far more interesting than provenance.
In these days of whisky releases ‘following market pricing’ - how does this exist? I mean, the Thompson Brothers could have slapped a prettier NAS label on the same tall round and charged us £60. Maybe more. But they didn’t. Why?
Well, because despite real examples of opportunistic gouging in today’s whisky, there remain producers who are determined to get people drinking good juice and talking about it. A crazy idea I know. You’d think whisky was made to do such a thing.
No chants of not understanding market dynamics or the fundamentals of capitalism, no, just whisky for drinking.
Better still, it’s not shiny enough for magpies to grab with a left hand only to obliviously and greedily pass on with their right. Hallelujah.
I’m starting to believe these Brothers of the Thompson name might be genuine whisky geeks with an understanding of what consumed whisky can do to a soul. They go about their business with savvy balance and more than a mere aurora of integrity. Nothing is cheap. Yet everything offers value. It just feels… fair.
Please don’t worry for my health, the picture I share is testimony to gleeful sharing of batches 001, 002, 004 and (this glass) 007; all over the last seven or eight months.
This won’t be around forever but that it does exist, today, in spite of everything, I am grateful.
Score: 7/10 WMc
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. CD
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