12 Year Old Scotch Whisky

Whisky Advocate: 94

Reinvention, reimagination, call it what you will, but Dewar’s master blender Stephanie Macleod’s introduction of first-fill bourbon cask finishing elevates this classic to the higher echelons of blended scotch whisky. It may seem a small gesture, but the result of combining the marrying and finishing processes is both captivatingly delicious and texturally silken, adding seemingly infinite layers of honey, vanilla, dried apricot, citrus, chocolate, and soft oak to the tasting experience, interwoven with a wisp of smoke. Without changing a beat of the blend’s 40 malts and grains, Macleod’s methods prove her mastery of the craft yet again.