What’s so glorious about early 1970s White Horse Blended Scotch? For starters, there’s likely some Scotch from the Malt Mill distillery which was an offshoot of Lagavulin. Though for most of you, and me, the draw here is the old Lagavulin. This particular White Horse comes from the early 70s which means the Lagavulin in here was distilled in the 60s… or earlier.
Blends today and blends of the past are slightly different animals. A lot of that has to do with the single malt trade and the scale of whisky today. Back when the scale of production was smaller and single malts weren’t much of a thing the best and oldest malts went into blends. This is one of the contributing factors to many old blends being quite nice.
Of course, that doesn’t mean all of them are. I’ve tried Johnny Red from every decade over the last 100 years and it ranges from inoffensive but unremarkable to outright dreck. Johnnie Black on the other hand definitely gets better as you drop back in the decades. And the same for White Horse. The stuff from the 80s is delightful, but as you go back in time you move from a great mixer to a pleasant sipper.
Now, let’s get to drinkin’!
1970s White Horse Blended Scotch – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Style: Blended (Scotch)
Region: Scotland
Blender: White Horse Distillers LTD.
Blend: Grain Whisky + Single Malts (Lagavulin, Malt Mill, etc.)
Cask: ex-Bourbon
Age: NAS (3+ Years)
ABV: 43%
1970s White Horse Blended ScotchPrice: NA – Auction, Specialty Store or Private Seller
Related Whiskey
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Trader Joe’s Blended Scotch
Bank Note 5 Year Blended Scotch
1970s White Horse Blended Scotch Tasting Notes
EYE
Straw
NOSE
Smoke, caramel, honey, orchard fruit, 7UP, graham, vanilla taffy, tarry/petrolly back note and touch OBE.
Remarkably fresh for a whisky that’s been in the bottle for nearly 50 years. It has a brightness that’s really shocking.
PALATE
Caramel, smoke, toasted malt, orange peel, copper, gum drops, vanilla, dried orchard fruit and some OBE and tar-like notes.
Heavier and dark than it looks, this holds a bit of that BBQ Meat note from Lagavulin and it works so well here.
FINISH
Long -> Smoke, fruit and caramel-vanilla.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Well-balanced, medium-bodied, velvety feel.
1970s White Horse Blended Scotch – Overall Thoughts and Score
There is something about these old White Horse bottlings that draw me in. The old Lagavulin definitely has something to do with it, but it can’t claim all the credit. There is just something about the way this was blended. The balance of the malt and the grain used and how it comes together effortlessly is so nice.
There’s a depth and heft to this along with a sweet bright fruitiness that brings more to the table than you’d expect. Bottles like this 1970s White Horse Blended Scotch show why this was such a huge seller back in the day. Though if it could be fully recaptured, it’s something that would likely do very well today.
SCORE: 3.5/5 (tasty, worth checking out ~ B | 83-86)
1970s White Horse Blended Scotch Review $NA
Overall
3.5- Nose (3.5)
- Palate (3.5)
- Finish (3.5)
- BBF (3.5)