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.
Smooth, uncomplicated, little aroma or finish, easy drinking, pick up bourbon hints, caramel sweetness but somehow the sweetness feels artificial after the 3rd mouthful. Weirdly adding water increases the chemically sweetness, odd. I'll finish it slowly one small glass is enough.
A baffling bad whisky. Decided I didn't want to be prejudice and actually make my own opinion, so got stuck in with an open mind. I don't care about the fancy packaging - lots of great whisky has fancy packaging and if people want to spend a bit more on a bottle that looks like it should hold perfume, then fine.....as long as the contents is drinkable. But it wasn't. Practically nothing to nose here - there is so little aroma, that most of what ends up your nose is alcohol. On the palate, it is as thin and insipid as you could imagine. And as for a finish - you'll be lucky! All incredibly disappointing. It doesn't even have the sweetness that a lot of average but drinkable grain whiskies + bourbons have. If the idea was to appeal to a new market, then I can only imagine it must have the opposite effect. If this was the first whisky I tried, I don't think I'd be where I am today. When one thinks about what you could get at the same price, it's really rather incomprehensible and sad.
Hello i agree with everything all the reviews say and would be a 5 star apart from the cork gets wet and starts to fall apart other than that fantastic whiskey.
Overpriced - yes. Malt - no (but i haven't seen it advertised as a malt). As a young whiskey drinker, I think this is great that someone has tried to appeal to the younger drinkers and offered something new. Easy to drink +great marketing = great product. Well done Haig club.
I bought this because 1. Had a few extra bucks to spend and 2. Very cool looking bottle and sound endorsement. The days of liquor store scam should be gone (1982ish). A bottle commanding the price should be worthy to some degree. Wow. This is a scam. Read the other reviews for the details because I am done here.
