Chivas Regal 18 is a blended Scotch whisky from Speyside, built around a core of grain and single malt whiskies and left in cask for at least eighteen years. The age statement on the label is the youngest whisky in the blend, not an average, so every component has spent close to two decades in wood before it goes into the bottle.
- Blended Scotch whisky, Speyside, Scotland.
- 18 years — the youngest spirit in the blend.
- Bottled at 40% ABV, 70cl.
- Dried fruit, caramel, toffee, dark chocolate.
- A hint of smoky oak on the close.
How it is made
Blended Scotch is a marriage of two things: column-distilled grain whisky, which brings softness and body, and pot-distilled single malts, which bring character. The blend is assembled, then returned to cask so the parts settle into each other rather than sitting side by side. Age statements in Scotch work on the youngest component, so an 18 year old blend is a more expensive proposition than the number alone suggests.
How it tastes
Rich and smooth, with dried fruits and caramel up front, then toffee and dark chocolate through the middle. The oak is there but held back, more a smoky edge than a woody one. The finish is long and lingering, which is the part eighteen years in cask tends to buy.
Good to know
Speyside is a small region in the north east of Scotland, home to more distilleries than any other, and the spiritual home of the single malts that give blends like this one their fruit and their weight. Blended Scotch outsells single malt by a wide margin worldwide, though the category rarely gets the credit for it.
