The Exceptional Grain Scotch Whisky 3rd Edition
Inviting aromas of cocoa, toffee, fresh tobacco and Olosoro Sherry spice balance perfectly with a robust palate highlighted by vanilla-laden spice, pralines and custard. The oak shines through the finish giving this a dense, yet bright profile.
Relationships matter in this business. Perhaps none of the folks we know in the spirits world gets that more than Don Sutcliffe, founder of Sutcliffe & Son who make The Exceptional Whisky. The Exceptional is a passion project he and friend Willie Phillips (who was the Managing Director at The Macallan for decades) began in earnest a few years ago. Don and Willie have built and maintained incredible relationships during the course of their nearly six decades of combined experience. These relationships have them sourcing from such benchmark distilleries as Cameron Bridge, North British, Strathclyde and more for this blend. You may not know all of these names, but these are the top of the class grain distilleries in Scotland. The two men take their time and blend those component whiskies with exacting precision and finish the whisky in Oloroso Sherry casks for a year. The end result, as we’ve tasted, has been stellar… exceptional, if you will… from start to finish. We first tasted this in London almost a year ago, and it was a revelation into how complex and masterful a grain whisky can be. Our buyer knew immediately this was destined the Whisky Runner Club.