Ardray Blended Whisky, 48% - Whisky Wednesday

I've been waiting for some Scottish/Japanese collab on a blend, and finally, we have it!
Ardray is a whisky comprised of all of the Beam-Suntory Scottish liquids, put together by the minds and palates of the folks from Suntory. A collaborative effort to show how balanced and flavourful blended whisky can be. Most people love Hibiki, but where's the love for the regular blends in regular bottles?
A combination of:
Auchentoshan, Ardmore, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, Highland Park, Laphroaig, Macallan, and North British - this things really sings when it comes to balanced citrus, and really subtle smoke notes from some weighty ingredients. All natural colours with non-chill filtration.
Give all blends a chance. If I hear one more person complain about blends... just do some reading beforehand. Most blends contain your favourite single malts. Just stop being a whisky bigot!
#ardray #blendedwhisky #singlemalts #auchentoshan #Ardmore #bowmore #glengarioch #highlandpark #laphroaig #macallan #northbritish #grain #newwhisky #naturalcolour #nonchillfiltered #whisky #whiskey #whiskywednesday #thisiswhiskywednesday

[@thewhiskyenthusiast]

Nice one Phil I'm glad to know you like it. I was curious about it but I have not been convinced it could be good enough for that price tag. Now that it has your seal of approval, I'm sold. Cheers 🥃

[@WhiskyWednesday]

It's honestly as good as any normal Compass Box product I've tried.

[@cantbendknee]

I feel like this will be a future purchase as I'm really on a budget right now. Leith Legacy 10 blended Scotch should be on your radar. 60% Grain / 40% Malt - aged for the last 7 years in ex sherry hogsheads and refill bourbon casks prior to that. There's a touch of smoke there, great viscosity. Natural colour, non chill filtered. Gleann Mor bottlers has recently brought out a blended scotch aged for over 5 years in Rioja wine casks. They are doing exciting things.

[@WhiskyWednesday]

That all sounds super exciting! I'll have to track a few of them down.

[@31446963048]

Hey Phil! I'm catching up on your videos (those YT pennies will be rolling in soon). Between fly fishing, American College football and hunting season, my scotch drinking declines and then I catch up. I'm reaching out to you to get some input though. The wife and I, with our grown children (19,23, and 25) are headed over to Scotland and Ireland in May. Open ended question on what would you recommend are must do's in your opinion? I might be driving so not necessarily stuck to the well traveled tourist tracks but will probably be adhered to them somewhat (wife could care less about distilleries) . I cannot tell you where we're headed because that's what we're trying to quickly decide. So I've reached out to 3 youtubers, you included, for suggestions. Ralfy and Eric Waite are the other two. Really, I'm asking about Scotland more so than Ireland. Appreciate any input you may have. I doubt we'll end up in Manchester but if by chance...

[@WhiskyWednesday]

Hey!! All of my Scotland recs are below. No matter where you end up, you'll have something to do:
Glasgow:
Good Spirits Co.
The Pot Still
The Clyde Distillery Tour
Glengoyne Tour (short bus journey)
Deanston (slightly longer bus journey)
Edinburgh:
The Devil's Advocate
Royal Mile Whiskies
Drink Monger
Makar's Mash Bar
SMWS Queen Street.
Panda and Son's
Distillery Tours:
My favourites have always been -
Balbalir, it's about an hour north of Inverness but is worth it. They show you everything.
Glenmorangie is the prettiest and also up that way.
Balvenie is incredibly detailed, and if you become a Warehouse 24 Member, they'll let you bottle a sample straight from cask.
Glen Garioch (very far east) just had a huge referb, and the place looks incredible. Cask Strength selections are insanely good.
I hope these help!