The much anticipated David Beckham endorsed single grain whisky, produced at Cameronbridge distillery. A combination of first-fill, rejuvenated and refill bourbon barrel-matured whiskies are used and Beckham, along with Simon Fuller, is very much involved in the development of the Haig Club brand.
The Haig dynasty meanwhile is the stuff of legend, with Robert Haig getting himself into trouble for distilling on the sabbath back in 1655! Cameronbridge was founded by John Haig in 1824, and a continuous still designed by Robert Stein (who was John's uncle) was soon installed at the site for the production of grain whisky, predating Aeneas Coffey's famous patent for his own version of the continuous still by a handful of years.
The grain whisky produced at Cameronbridge would naturally become integral to the well-loved Haig blended whiskies and now the Haig brand has been reinvented for a new generation and new markets. It may seem like a scary new world to some, but grain whisky is on the march, and Haig Club is at the very forefront.
It doesn't jump out at you, granted, but there's more here than meets the eye (/nose). Apple crumble, expressed lemon peel and a touch of mango. Millionaire's shortbread, banoffee pie, coconut milk, dried grass, orange Turkish delight and cardamom.
Toffee and vanilla with pleasant supporting oak notes. Fresh banana (neither overpowering nor artificial), a hint of nougat and honeycomb pieces.
Praline, cinnamon and a little ginger with perhaps a hint of cardamom returning right at the death.
Approachable, adaptable, good mouthfeel (I chucked some ice in afterwards and the texture was great). A hugely accessible whisky with tasty spice, toffee and, with the ice now, increasingly some tropical fruit notes too.
Not even worth £5.00 a bottle.
pure marketing, terrible whisky
This is blatantly just moonshine with flavouring in. That said I like the bottle & it's easy to drink. Would I buy it again. No.
A friend and I took two sips of this donkey piss. Then I dumped the whole bottle on the fire, the fire failed to ignite like Beckham trying to win for England. This was worst purchase ever at the duty free. You would be safer to lick urinal pucks and then drink this dirty English piss.
I'm not entirely sure this is whisky. On first sniff it's like cheap vodka. I got a sudden proustian rush of adolescent park bench piss ups but nothing more sophisticated. First taste? There's nothing there. I'm a huge fan of good blends which are often vastly superior to most single malts but this is just......nothing. It doesn't taste of anything much. A slight caramel hint but mostly just alcohol. It has no body. Add a dash of water and you don't see the release of oils a good blend shows. It makes you feel like a desperate alcoholic as you drink it as it has no other purpose than to get you drunk. I love good whisky and I think I appreciate a good one but I don't think this stuff qualifies as whisky at all. It's a sort of well packaged drain cleaner. No one could say they enjoy it. Haig have made a spirit for peopl who find supermarket vodka too taxing. It's the worst whisky I've ever tasted. You could get two bottles of the blessed Johnie Walker Black for one of these. I think you know what to do folks.
