food and beverage

Bells
Caol Ila is an exception though. Most distilleries are stubborn individuals. 'If we seriously wanted to change Mortlach could we do it?' she asks. 'No
you'd get a corrupted spirit. We always have to keep within the parameters of what the distillery character is'.

It's a polite way of responding to criticisms that the bigger the firm the more likely it is that all their whiskies will taste the same. Ask Turnbull the same question and he visibly twitches. 'People think if you're big you don't care about quality and all the whisky is the same
' he says. 'In reality
our size has allowed us to do the opposite. We're more aware than anybody that we need the character of the 27 distilleries to come through. The Walker
Bell's or J&B character is paramount. We won't kill the goose that laid the golden egg'.

But there's no doubt that the in-depth research done by UDV into new make character
distillery character and wood ageing has made the bean counters in head office question the logic of one firm having 27 malt distilleries and two grain plants (and a 50 per cent share in another). After all
with all this research
isn't it possible to take a more cost-effective option and make all the malts and blends on one site? It's what the rest of the world does.

Turnbull's heard it all before. 'I'm always having to deal with people parachuting into this industry with smart ideas
' he sighs. 'They assume they're dealing with a bunch of numpties who have never had a good idea in their puff for the last 100 years.' So he called their bluff. 'I said
fine
let's build the biggest f—in' distillery'in the world. There's just one drawback
you'll have an oil refinery and I don't see many tourists going to Grangemouth. Whisky sells because of the romance'. Scratch any whisky person and a romantic soul peers out
these people have a passion for their job and their product. The men emptying thousands of casks in the disgorging hall
working in the vast warehouses
the coopers in the noisy
steamy joke-filled cooperage are the unsung heroes of the industry.

As for Christine
ask her about Walker and she becomes positively poetic. 'Walker Red is cheeky and in your face
Black is gorgeous
Blue is positively luxurious. They've all got that Islay thread and a different interplay of lingering flavours. Christ!

I'm sounding like someone from marketing!" The bottom line is that in Johnnie Walker and J&B they have two of the greatest blends in the world. To be able to produce them in such volumes and retain such high quality standards is an incredible feat. But who gives them a second thought? 'We've concentrated on malts for 10 years now
' says Christine. 'Classic Malts helped grow the market and that's great
but now it's time to make that link from them into the blends. We've got to recognize blends for what they're worth. I'm proud of these brands
they're not faceless products'.

BLACK & WHITE James Bucbanan was one of blending s greatest characters and the man who
from the 1880s onwards
brought blended Scotch to the attention of the English middle classes - thanks to his creation of a lighter style of blend
which he renamed Black & White
in 1904. Once a major player for DCL
it's now sadly rather lost in UDV's massive portfolio.

TASTING NOTES
Black Sc White A hint of heather on the light nose
with plenty of fresh grain and light smoke. A crunchy almond centre with some mint toffee and a hint of smoke mid-way through. WHITE HORSE Created by Sir Peter Mackie
the despotic
eccentric blender (and owner of Lagavulin)
White Horse always wore its Islay heart on its sleeve
until recently. Now repositioned as a 'fighting' blend
it has been toned down slightly to appeal to a new audience.

TASTING NOTES

White Horse
Some ripe apple and a hint of smoke on the nose. The palate has an immediate whack of turf/peat. Dries out in the middle
then broadens and becomes quite sweet. * * (*)

TASTING NOTES

Bell's 8-year-old
Mellow
fragrant nose with good depth of flavour. Some fruit cake
light perfume
leather
cocoa and cereal. Soft and chewy. Take time to rediscover it. * * * * (*)

BELL'S Perth wine merchant Arthur Bell started blending in the 1860s
but it was his son 'AK' who first sold the whisky as Bell's in 1904. Still the UK's largest-selling whisky
its reputation suffered during the 1970s when overproduction brought quality crashing down. Relaunched as an 8-year-old in 1994
it is unrecognizable as the bad old whisky it briefly became.