It was his experience at blending tea that gave Scotland’s most famous name in whisky his skill at creating the world’s leading whisky.

With tea another area of focus for tasting.com (see our tea.tasting section) we look forward to exploring how these two forms of blending overlap, but first some history of the founders of two of the greatest names in Tea, and Whisky, both of whom did business in or near Glasgow at around the same time during the 19th Century.

Alexander Walker (1837 – 1889) was apprenticed with a tea merchant in Glasgow, using his skills developed from tea blending to create in 1865 a whisky blend, which was later renamed after his father as Johnnie Walker Black Label. This blend went on to make Johnnie Walker the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world.

Alexander may have left tea for, in his view, greater things but just six years later, in 1871, a certain Thomas Lipton (1848 - 1931 and pictured above) opened his first grocery shop, also in Glasgow. Thomas bypassed the traditional tea distribution channels (tea-trading was focused in London’s Mincing Lane) by importing from his own Sri Lankan tea gardens and selling at unprecedented prices to the then untapped poorer working class market. The Lipton brand went on to become the first dominant name in the modern tea trade.

Today these two famous beverages have, in a somewhat unlikely and unexpected way, almost merged at the ancient home of tea; in China the most popular way to drink Scotch whisky is mixed with cold green tea.

I always think of Scotch Whisky drinkers, or at least those that appreciate the premium blends and single malts, as discerning consumers. But not everyone knows about the small-batch blends that are considered the ones to have here in Scotland.

Baillie Nicol Jarvie (or BNJ), is one; Asyla from John Glaser’s Compass Box Whisky is another. Earlier I introduced Te Bheag the first unchilfiltered (read as equals more flavour) blend , although even in the UK this is not always easy to find. Now here’s a fourth, from one of the great single cask bottlers of Single Malts, Adelphi.

Adelphi was started in 1993 by Jamie Walker in Edinburgh using the name of the Adelphi Distillery that had previously been in the family (more history here).

While he specialised in his Single Malts, he also created the Adephi Private Stock deluxe blend - and Jamie always joked that he would always have to keep the blend going because it had become a favourite of his grandmother - and she had become one of it’s main clients!

Why abandon your favourite big brand blend for one of these less known blends from smaller companies ? Some, but not all, of the famous blends can certainly stand alongside these niche blends for quality, but what they cannot do is provide what some people look for - something just that little bit different from what everyone else has.

Single malt devotees should note that blending can sometimes be about covering up average product by blending it with superior product (you can see this also with big coffee companies who blend the cheaper robusta with arabica beans) but speak with a tea blender or wine maker and you will see that single varietal does not always mean best. The most sought after Bordeaux wines use a blend that can include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Cabernet Franc varietals.

Recommended for : A good gift for any whisky drinker
UK Availability : Specialist drink shops or online at Speciality Drinks
NZ Availability : Specialist drink shops or online at Whisky Galore
US Availability : Specialist drinkshops or online at Park Avenue Liquor
South Africa Availability : Try Compass Box Oak Cross online at Aficionados

When the Gaelic Whisky Company (or ‘Pràban na Linne’ to give them their Gaelic name; translated means a smugglers den by the Sound of Sleat) first set out to promote an unfiltered whisky it was unusual to find any other blends doing the same. More than 10 years later and now the big whisky companies will often refrain from filtering when they do a special limited edition bottling of high end Single Malts as they now accept that connoisseurs (who understands the details, technique, or principles of an art and are competent to act as a critical judge) recognise the benefit.

Gaelic Whisky Company have also re-introduced a Rum Finish unchilfiltered blend, double matured and is kept for an extra year in Guyanan Rum casks. Available NZ, UK

Recommended for : A good gift for a regular blended whisky drinker (Famous Grouse, Bells etc) as something a bit special without moving to a Single malt.
Availability : Some UK specialist whisky shops or online at The Whisky Exchange