Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/205467
DISTILLER PROFILES The Perfect Blend by David Ransom SPENCERFIELD SPIRITS RETURNS BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY TO THE FORE—AND THROWS IN A GIN TO BOOT W hen Alex Nicol set up Spencerfield Spirits—parent company of the popular blended Scotch whisky labels Sheep Dip and Pig's Nose—a couple of decades ago, it was with the distinct idea of doing something different from what most other whisky houses were doing at the time: releasing single malts. Nicol, a veteran of such venerable companies as Glenmorangie and Whyte & Mackay who had been instrumental in popularizing the concept of wood finishing—finishing whisky in port barrels, sherry barrels, etc.—had watched blended whiskies take a backseat to the PHOTO: DOUG YOUNG PHOTO COURTESY OF SPENCERFIELD SPIRITS Left: Spencerfield Spirits founder Alex Nicol. Above: Two blended whiskies—Sheep Dip and Pig's Nose—are complemented by Edinburgh Gin in the Spencerfield Spirits portfolio 86 / the tasting panel / november 2013 TP1113_066-107.indd 86 10/24/13 9:24 AM