13 Years Tequila Cask Selection Blended Whisky (700 ml)

Master Blender Sandy Hyslop's deliberate rule-break: finishing a Speyside-anchored blend in tequila casks, a vessel with no precedent in the Chivas Regal lineage. The brand home, Strathisla Distillery in Keith, Moray — the oldest continuously operating distillery in the Scottish Highlands, drawing process water from the granite-filtered Broomhill Spring — contributes the heart malt. Its notably short-necked pot stills allow heavier vapours to rise, producing a full-bodied, generous new make that can absorb assertive cask influence without losing structure.

The blend draws on Strathisla, Longmorn, The Glenlivet, Allt-a-Bhainne, Miltonduff, and Braeval malts alongside Strathclyde grain, all matured a minimum of 13 years — the age statement denoting the youngest component, with older whiskies present unlabelled. The tequila cask finish introduces agave-derived compounds — earthy, waxy, subtly vegetal — layered over the house signature of orchard fruit, heather honey, and hazelnut from ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry oak. Bottled at 40% ABV; chill-filtration and colouring practices are not publicly disclosed by the producer.

What no peer in the blended Scotch category does: using tequila cask seasoning to bridge Scottish grain sweetness with Mexican agave character — a cross-spirit transgression that repositions the 13-year tier well outside the standard sherry-or-bourbon binary. Drink now through the near term; the agave influence is most vivid in the first few years after release.