Bought – ASDA, 25th October 2013
Ratings:
92/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
81/100 – Ralfy, of www.ralfy.com
Review: – Ralfy – Whyte & Mackay 13yo – YouTube
There aren’t that many blended whiskies scoring 90+ in the Whisky Bible that you can easily find in the supermarkets but the Whyte & Mackay 13yo is one of them. The secret to the rather odd age of 13 years is explained on the back of the bottle, and I quote:
“The secret of the rich, rounded taste of THE THIRTEEN is in the unique Double Marriage maturation process. At 12 years old, when other producers bottle their aged blends, Whyte & Mackay’s Master Blender brings together the finest malt whiskies, then returns them to sherry casks to marry for another year. At 13 years old the second marriage takes place, when the finest grain whiskies are introduced to this blend of malts to create the masterpiece that is THE THIRTEEN.”
In the Whisky Bible 2013 Jim Murray says of THE THIRTEEN – “easily the pick of the W&M blended range” but he does give the 40-year-old 93/100. The cheapest bottle of 40yo I could find was, are you sitting down? . . . a staggering £579.99! I’m so glad they knocked off a penny from £580 or I might have thought it was expensive! THE THIRTEEN cost £17, so for the sake of £563 I think I’ll concede that extra point to the 40yo bottle.
Whisky Den 