The Dimple Pinch - Cool Bottle, Decent Whisky

 

The triangular bottle is one of the most distinctive shapes on the liquor store shelf. Filled with 15 year-old whisky and wrapped in gold netting, it practically screams out: "I'm unique, I'm cool, I'm premium!"

So, the Dimple Pinch bottle, actually patented in the US in 1958, is a master stroke of marketing. Does the blended scotch whisky inside match up?

The short answer is: maybe. It depends on how much you pay for it.

I've never seen such price variation in a whisky before. Checking online, I found prices ranging from $22 for a 750ml triangle, to $47 for that same bottle. It's $43 on the North Carolina ABC store shelves where I live.

At the high end of the price range, you can get better for your money. If you like the Dimple (as it's known outside the US), a bottle of the Auchentoshan Classic single malt will only set you back $30 - $35, and it has a very similar flavor profile. Cragganmore and Dalwhinnie are also on the light site of single malts, and run about $45 - $50 a bottle  and offer substantially more character.

On the other hand, if you're fortunate enough to live in a place where you can obtain Dimple for $22 a bottle, then it's a right good deal and well worth the price.

Dimple is a blended scotch, in this case the product of more than 30 different malt and grain whiskies, blended together in whatever proportions are needed to achieve the signature Dimple taste. Everything in the bottle spent at least 15 years in a wooden cask.

Unlike Johnny Walker Black, Dimple is not a frankenscotch that tries cover all the things a scotch can be. It's blended to offer a much more restricted palette of flavors and true mass market appeal.

Dimple is sweet, medium bodied whisky. Bottled at 80 proof (40% abv), it sips smoothly straight out of the bottle. I don't pick up much of a nose, a little oak, a little honey, a little alcohol. Nothing that really stands out.

Flavorwise, Dimple is sweet, with honey fading to hint of oak and alcohol, and then away completely - it's a short finish. The mingling of the 30 plus component whiskies smooths off almost all the rough edges, and there are none of the peat or smoke flavors that so divide folks into love it or hate it camps. Adding water doesn't make the flavors bloom like it does with other whiskies, it just thins the honey notes a bit and cuts alcohol burn part of the finish down even some.

This makes it a perfect social whisky for the bar. You can offer it to all sorts of people, secure that you're not giving anyone something so strongly flavored that they hate it, and yet good enough to make them feel as if they had been given something premium. The distinctive bottle shape will only reinforce that impression. In a party atmosphere, it goes quickly, as I can attest.

Of course, you can get the same effect with a bottle of Auchentoshan Classic, and play the single malt snob appeal card at the same time. You just don't end up with a cool triangular bottle that your crafty and artist friends will bug you for.

(Addendum - I finished my bottle as I was writing this review. Unless I can find a place selling it for $25 or less, I have no intention of replacing it.)

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon - A Fitting Memoriam

 

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon is one of the amazing variety of bourbons that flow from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. I've previously reviewed a different bourbon from this distillery: Old Weller Antique Reserve, which is just about my top value bourbon.

The whiskey is named after Buffalo Trace's former master distiller, who recently passed away. Lee was credited with reviving bourbon drinking in the US by creating the premium bourbon category with Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon in 1984. I haven't reviewed Blanton's yet, but it's one of my top 4 bourbons ever, and has a permanent place on my bar.

Despite being from the same distillery, these are distinctly different offerings. First off, there's the grain bill. While both are, by law, required to be at least 51% corn, the grain bill for Elmer T includes rye, whereas Old Weller replaces that with wheat. As a result, you'd expect the Elmer T be spicier, and the Weller to be sweeter.

Elmer T is also bottled at 90 proof (45% abv) , which means it's watered down to sipping strength, while Old Weller is essential cask strength at 107 proof (53.5% abv). I drink both with some water added, which mean I likely end up making them pretty close to equal strength in my glass.

However, they are similar in the incredibly reasonable prices they go for on store shelves. Elmer T. Lee runs around $25 a bottle in the US, which makes it an easy choice for a regular dram.

Which is good, because the flavor will keep you reaching for the bottle. This is an amazingly well-balanced bourbon. It starts off sweet, then there's some fire, and then the spice of the rye and oak comes in and then it all fades away to honey. This is a medium-bodied dram that smells of vanilla and honey and oak, and the rich amber color looks lovely in the glass. It sips nicely, cleanly, with a medium long, sweet finish.

One quick not about the bottle. You can't tell from the photo, but the bottle has a distinctive feel in the hand. The unlabeled sides are hollowed in, providing a perfect hand grip. It's a small touch, but a well thought out one.

I'd say it's a fitting tribute to a bourbon pioneer. And now that my bottle is empty, I'll be hunting for a replacement - this deserves to be a permanent fixture on my bar.

As to where this fits on my bourbon continuum, I'm provisionally putting it above Old Weller Antique Reserve and just a hair below the my personal top quartet of bourbons. I reserve the right to reevaluate and possibly promote it once I procure another bottle for further tasting.

In terms of absolute value, I'd score this equal to the Old Weller Antique Reserve. As a gift idea for a whiskey enthusiast, this a definite step above the Old Weller: the cork stopper (as opposed the Old Weller's plastic cap) makes a better impression, and the link to the master distiller and fact that it's a single barrel whiskey push it a couple of notches higher up the gift chain.