Tasted #137: LABEL 5 Gold Heritage

Last week we mentioned LABEL 5's new "Gold Heritage" blend, currently available in the US and soon to be released in Australia and China. Blended by the affable Graham Coull, (also of Glen Moray, and who we met last year), the whisky is NAS, but made up of malts up to 20 years old, and described as having fruit, spice, vanilla oak and subtle smoke. No word on the specific malts or cask types that went into the blend, but with that description we could guess it may have both ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry matured stock.

La martiniquaise were kind enough to send us a bottle so we could give our own thoughts. So, on with them then...


LABEL 5 "Gold Heritage" (40% ABV, NAS, Blend, Scotland, $40USD (China / Australia pricing TBC))
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Colour: Orange gold.

Nose: Orange zest, paprika. Sweet but not overpoweringly so - there's Bourbon matured stock in here I'd guess, but not exclusively. Some grapefruit notes, but mostly orange (zest). A surprisingly good nose.

Palate: Oranges, but whole this time. Rich thick vanilla ice cream. Toffee apples. Very smooth, not a hint of burn (as I often say with 40% ABV whiskies, it could do with a touch more ABV, but the ABV doesn't let it down like some other whiskies). No peat smoke that I could discern.

Finish: Grains, cinnamon, slight hint of pepper. Smooth to the end. Still no peat or smoke. Medium length.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. I'll admit I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I'm not about to switch away from my single malts, but for a $40 USD blend (so possibly around $60-$70 AUD) it's definitely worth a look in if you're on the lookout for a smooth (but not bland) blend.

Cheers,
Martin.