Thursday, May 12, 2005

William Grants Monkey Shoulder

A new Blended (Vatted) malt from William Grant's called Monkey Shoulder named after the injury often picked up by maltmen from traditional floor maltings from the continual turning of the barley on the malt floor. This whisky is predominantly Kininvie and has a small amount of Glenfiddich and Balvenie added to it. The whisky carries no age statement but is believed to be around six years old. The number 27 on the label refers to the fact that it is a "limited" edition of only 27 bourbon casks so limited to roughly 11,000 bottles. - A lot more limited than William Grant's recent 1991 Glenfiddich that was limited to a mere 225 casks - Wow now that's limited.

The idea behind the whisky according to the marketing spiel is to make scotch whisky more appealing to a more fashionable audience and try and claw back some of the market share lost to Jack Daniels. They are hoping that people will be happy to order a "Monkey and Coke". A novel idea and at least the are trying to get more people drinking rather than going with the laird by the fire with the bloodhound by his side type imagery.

I have yet to try this but have had Kininvie in the past and have found it to be fairly light and inoffensive with perhaps a slight metallic edge - I would need to look up my notes for more accurate description. I imagine that this is a very easy drinking dram and I'm sure the chance to try a near Kininvie single malt will prove tempting for many.
Monkey Shoulder Posted by Hello

1 comment:

Malthead said...

Hi Scrooge,

You are correct Kininvie has never been bottled as a Single Malt officially or non officially. I have however tasted it several times in Dufftown at various ages. As I remember it was very light and a little bit metallic - I am sure I have notes somewhere and will try to find them.