9yo Blended Scotch Whisky | 45% ABV

Appreciation for what we have

I’m quite grateful to have family that I get along with. For a lot of people I know that’s not the case. And not just family but close friends I consider an essential part of my tribe. A solid circle. The best someone my age could hope for.

It’s necessary when one lives hundreds of miles from their clan and each reunion involves careful planning and coordinating schedules, are booked months in advance, or revolve around special occasions or holidays. Those “just because” spontaneous visits get rarer and rarer. We’re busy folk and time keeps rolling on as it always does.

Anyone would be lucky to have one close-knit group of reliable people to lean on in the tough times and laugh with in the good times; I’m thankful to have two. My California adopted “family” and the one I was born into, closer to where I grew up, clustered far to the North in Washington State. Sometimes we see each other frequently, but this year it’s been tougher to get together. Nobody’s fault really, just life happening.

So, there’s been loads of excitement building toward a particular trip circled on the calendar for the past year. A journey out to Arizona; this one to celebrate an upcoming birthday milestone for my sister.

In addition to immediate family, the stay involved other new and old friends, friends of friends, and in-laws. A big, hearty group of fun-loving folks. We all travelled together a few years ago and had a blast. It made sense to run it back with the same crew. We went all sharing on a big house out in the desert and had a raucous time.

It was a truly special trip with truly special people.

We caroused, caught up, laughed constantly, did embarrassing karaoke – it was as memorable as it was entertaining.

More than the trip itself there was one particular day I was looking forward to the most that involved a planned hike out in the desert with my sister – the “birthday girl.”

The hike involved a strenuous trail to a particularly colorful and awe-inspiring sandstone rock formation in the wilderness about an hour drive from the house. It’s been on the Dunlop bucket list for years.

The formation, simply and understatedly named The Wave, consists of beautifully intersecting sandstone troughs that were eroded and shaped by stormwater and wind over millions of years. So many special places like this exist out in the wild places of the Southwestern United States, it makes one feel so small, but also thankful to be in that place at that moment.

Because the area is well-known to hikers, photographers, and cloud chasers - and the formation itself is as fragile as it is breathtaking - access is extremely regulated and monitored by advance permit only, with guests selected by lottery. Trespassing carries hefty fines or possible prison time (or so the sign warned us). We applied for a permit months in advance and only found out a few weeks before that we’d been selected. Thousands of curious adventurers apply through a government-run website, but only 64 people are allowed in each day. Lucky us.

I wasn’t just excited for the hike and place, but also the company. We had put it out to the group, but only my sister and I could get past the 6AM wake up time and desert temperatures. We’re in the minority of people who want to do hours of hot weather hiking on vacation.

My sister is truly one of my favorite people and it’s unfortunate we only see each other a handful of times a year. Even then it’s usually at family functions or with the bustle of holidays swirling around us.

Sister Dunlop is a real one. A gem. One of one in this world. She’s a wonderful mother, a kind person, dependable, funny, disciplined, hardworking - I’ve told her before that she's my role model (even though she’s younger than me). She’s truly the best of us and I couldn’t think of a better human to spend half a day facing brutal desert sun and sandy wind gusts while soaking in another “one of one in this world” rock formation together.

A note of personal trivia, when your author was auditioning for Dramface last Christmas break hunched over Mother Dunlop’s dining room table, it was actually Sister Dunlop who read my first pieces and gave me the encouragement to hit “send” on that infamous email to Wally. It was a hard thing to do. “Nervous” doesn’t even begin to describe it. She knew how much writing meant to me. She made me feel brave. That’s the person she is.

Turns out she also makes a great hiking partner, which shouldn’t surprise me. She’s great at everything else. My only regret was how fast the day went by. It all seems a blur now.

As the Dunlop siblings conquered this hike together, I had another reunion with the great outdoors. I spend a lot of time on this website talking about my connection to nature. One can feel invigorated even with scorching summer sun beating down and aggressive, desiccating winds bowing our heads and forcing us to clutch our hats more than a few times. But there’s more than just harsh environments, there’s awe and wonder to be found.

On a previous hike I received a sticker with a Navajo Proverb on it.

“Be Still. Let the Earth Speak to you.”

Each time I looked up there was something that reminded me of this. My eyes met sweeping vistas and magnificent rock formations, barely making sense of the dizzying color palette. I heard birds calling to one another and the wind carving the landscape as it had for millennia. The dry dust, clay, and rocks met my nostrils with wonderful scents of earthy rawness.

The lottery/permit system allows not only unfettered access to the Wave upon arrival, but guarantees these still moments can be relished in solitude - just us Dunlop siblings together. Unlike most other parks or natural attractions, there were no crowds or lines. We saw very few people and had our own moment with this natural wonder all to ourselves.

I ran my hands along the smooth rocks, feeling their immortality. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, reaching out with my senses, hoping to slow time and live in that moment of quiet serenity. The Earth spoke to me.

Like all things, however, it had to end and we made the journey back, flush with pride at the accomplishment and excited for the experience and memories made.

Hiking and quietude are thirsty work, and I remembered another reunion was awaiting me at the house: whisky samples I brought that deserved their own contemplation.

Review 1/2 - Archie

Thompson Brothers TB/BSW 9yo, The Final Release, Blended Scotch Whisky, 45% ABV
US$65 paid (£50 in UK) & still some availability

This whisky represents its own reunion of sorts as Thompson Bros is one of the only independent bottlers that’s regularly available at one of the Los Angeles area liquor stores ol’ Archie has been known to haunt on occasion.

The original TB/BSW 6 year was a bottle I purchased a couple of years ago. I was still somewhat new to the game and thought “blended whisky” was somehow a dirty word based on the grocery store experience and vast majority of blended whiskies available, but the price was great and a friend convinced me it was good.

He was right.

I was going through a sherried whisky phase at the time (“It’s not a phase mom!”) And the approachability of that bottle and easy drinking experience meant it didn’t last long.

I didn’t know at the time, as that bottle quickly found its way on to the great recycle bin in the sky, that I was tasting whisky lore, a genuine cult-favorite among botherers worldwide. The label claims it was an accidental vatting that brought us the original recipe, deepening the mystery.

The greater Whiskyverse was aplomb with praise for this release. The price, the flavor profile, the value! The quality!A Dramface 3-way review that had more 7’s than a winning slot machine. And at a time when whisky pricing generally was overheated and hand-wringing over climbing costs was the collective anxiety du jour.

So, after several successful batches and rumors these stocks were coming to an end, fast forward three years and those same Brothers Thompson - who seem to be at the forefront of everything fun about whisky - drop another bottle, this time with The Final Release stamped in red like a warning across that famous label and another change, a 9 year age statement (but also a dip in ABV - more on that in a moment).

With memories of that blend sticking in my mind like so much sweet sherry goodness, I raised my hand in the Dramface group chat (as I so often do as the new guy) and agreed to take one for the team. But more than that, to see if this would be a joyful reunion or a bitter letdown.

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*The legend returns, and lives up to the hype*

Nose

Layered and inviting. Very rich. Initially an elegant, heavy woodiness like an old rocking chair, vintage chest, or splintered tree bark followed by dusted chocolate truffles. Plenty going on here. Worn leather. Swiss Miss cocoa with milk. Apple cinnamon. Sweet caramel and dark chocolate. With time there’s a light earthiness that comes through, feels woodsier and deeper, also fruitier like Fig Newtons and sugary raspberries. Hershey’s Kisses.

Due to the low ABV I didn’t play with water too much but did want to see if there were any contrast or new notes with dilution. I did find that water brings chocolate chip cookie dough, cherry pits, more caramel-ey chocolate, and wet wood.

Palate

Thick, velvety, oily, and desserty. Chocolate mousse. Cola caramel concentrate. Caffe mocha. Cherry cordials. Kahlua. Oreo Cookies. Coffee Ice Cream. Water brings hints of peppermint. There's a slight bitterness on the finish like Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate or black coffee, but also Hershey’s Syrup, more woodiness, and a light cinnamon roll spiciness right at the end.

To me there’s not a lot of fruitiness here and this really leans into those big, desserty chocolate notes and that elegant old woodiness, but there are hints of strawberry milkshake and Neapolitan ice cream. Would’ve liked a little more on the palate, but very satisfied overall with a 9-year blended whisky. Same as the nose, only played with water a little bit here. Mostly did without.

The Dregs

I was still, and the Earth spoke to me through this whisky.

It said: “This is yummy.”.

Marketed by the Dornoch Duo as a “Return to an older style of whisky…” I was pleased when I saw the ABV (45%) that there was still plenty of engagement here. For a pair as respected and committed to craft and integrity bottling as the Thompson Bros, I’d have to ask why they chose to go “sub-46” on this, although their website tells me it’s not colored or chill-filtered.

They’re the experts not me, I don’t blend whisky, I drink it. For the most part, I don’t think the extra point made a difference. So not sure if it's even worth the gripe since it doesn’t subtract from the presentation.

This is a well-balanced whisky and deeply layered, especially for the age statement. I’ll leave the debate as to whether it’s a “sherry bomb” to others, or perhaps a headier discussion another time as to whether that’s a derogatory term or not. I prefer more of those big dessert, old wood, and leathery notes in my sherried whiskies, so this was right up my alley.

A pleasant reunion and quite quaffable for a whisky so heavy and brimming with intense sherry character (especially in this summer heat), but I can already tell by the falling levels that this bottle is going to join its long-lost sibling in the great recycle bin in the sky before long. A reunion awaits in the bottle afterlife.

Score: 7/10

Review 2/2 - Wally

Thompson Brothers TB/BSW 9yo, The Final Release, Blended Scotch Whisky, 45% ABV
£50 paid & still some availability

Not many of us buy multiple bottles of the same thing, right?

I mean, there once was a time where whisky drinkers had ‘their brand’ - and I’m sure that still exists - where a bottle is replaced on finishing, much like it was milk, or orange juice. But there’s clearly a difference between the loyal drinker and the promiscuous whisky botherer.

For those of a curious and exploratory nature, even when we have our favourites, it’s likely we buy a ‘back up’ or replacement bottle only when we find something we particularly like or feel nervous that it will disappear; an emotive action forcing a comfort purchase for ‘the stash’. I’ll admit it’s a behaviour I’m susceptible to.

Then there are the staples. In recent times, the word ‘permashelf’ has become a way of referring to those bottles that we feel like keeping around; favourites that we can rely on and share with the curious minds we might be lucky enough to encounter; you know, those moments where we might bully someone into understanding why we’re so obsessed with this specific strain of booze. Or simply they are trusty bottles that we feel content to keep on hand, those that we know will fit a particular mood.

Then there are those bottles that we seem to buy multiples of, as if it were our brand, like the old days; I’m a “Whyte & Mackay man”, “He’s a Bell’s drinker” or “She likes her wee nip of Famous Grouse and keeps a bottle on her side table”. But I’m speaking about ‘botherer’ bottles; those that become more than something to consider replacing, they actually become omnipresent. Those that, should they disappear, have very little obvious replacements.

Since the introduction of the Thompson Brothers’ TB/BSW back in 2022, I have bought so many that I started to feel like I was a ‘TB/BSW’ guy. One day, should I find myself standing at the pearly gates and held to account for such things, a red face of admission may be forced. They would be counted by the case.

They were quaffed, shared, celebrated and gifted, but there’s no guilt. When something is good, it’s good. To tell people, to share it, to replace it and keep it at hand - well, it’s simply the polite thing to do.

There are, thankfully, some sherry-themed releases that are cracking and available still, but not anything quite like this. It is unique and, unless we can convince someone to make the same ‘mistake’ that created this parcel of deliciousness to do so again, it’ll soon be gone forever.

Archie mentioned already the slight tweak in ABV and the new, bumped-up age statement. But I suspect the biggest change is actually in the price: what was once a £34 bottle is now £50. Tut tut.

But seriously, after faithfully selling this to everyone who cared to appreciate it for such a fair price over the years, do we really care that they can make a little more from their farewell bottling? I don’t, not least because it’s still fairly priced, there’s very little to touch it when it comes to its profile, its value or its peers.

I’ve bought one already and took it to a social event where it was appropriate to pull a bring-your-own-booze manoeuvre - where the company was mixed and all that was needed was something flavourful and ‘smoooth’. It was rinsed in an hour amongst questions of “£50 you say? Where can I buy this?”

This one came in a box via the Dramface Deflection System, alongside two Mystery Malts, with no instruction or demands. And - as you might spot from the already precarious fill level, it’s a certainty I’ve already picked up another since.

After all, I’m a TB/BSW guy.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*I wonder just how much we’ll miss this*

Nose

Juicy, plump, ripe dried fruits: currants, figs, dates and raisins. A ginger-y note too, the softest of background kitchen spices and brown sugars. Some black tea, maybe berry-flavoured. Iced coffee, treacle and powdered chocolate.

There’s a wee green note too, not herbal, but not minty; I’ll go with tomato vines even though it’s not that either. You know the vibe. Overall, pretty soft and inviting.

Palate

A silky arrival betrays some lovely maturity to things. The fruit arrives as detected on the nose, but there’s a sweet orange note too. Somehow I’m led to think about Juicy Fruit gum which, even though I don’t know what flavour that is, I’ll go with it.

No water needed. I’ve drowned this out in the past and I tend to only offer water to newer drinkers not used to neat spirits. If you do add water though, it still manages to keep that silkiness that’s rare in any blend, let alone a £50 bottle. Water also makes the fruit less sumptuous and more red berry-like, almost jammy. I like it as it comes.

The finish is slightly drying but still holds all of those fruits, they’re just sprinkled with a touch of black pepper - and a whiff of that green note too, alongside a resolution to buy another bottle.

The Dregs

So, when the sentiments I’ve shared here are as such, does the score really matter?

Probably not but, truth be told, this is a 7/10 whisky, which places me in lock-step with Archie. But, as is evident, I have broken the rhythm somewhat and leveraged some flexibility in our scoring system.

You see, when we consider the impact of this release over the few years and several batches we’ve had, I feel it needs a little more credit.

The perception of blends, as an example, has been boosted hugely (even although it isn’t, strictly speaking, a blend in anything other than name, technically, and in serendipity) alongside the huge hit it was for retailers at a time when they didn’t realise just how much they might come to rely upon it.

As general demand crashed, coincidentally within a year or so of the introduction of this, it became a stalwart of bang-for-buck, kudos-laden delicious safety when someone balked at the cost of that Macallan 12 year old. I mention Macallan, but it’s easy to forget that - in 2022 - everything was extortionately priced and oversold.

I have been sneaky over the years with this one too, and included it in blind line-ups where it’s always been successfully received. But the biggest impact it has had, in my opinion, is in playing its part towards an empowerment in the democratisation of whisky once more; a plain, simple, humble package with zero fluff and even less stuffiness. For those who care.

I think for this reason alone, it deserves an 8/10 Something special.

Also, when I think about it, its price has meant it’s been bought, opened, sloshed, guzzled and shared. Almost as if it would always be around. Maybe, over the years we should’ve treated it with a touch more reverence? Maybe it’s not too late.

I will miss this.

Score: 8/10

PS: Those Arizona Wave rock formation pics though…

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AD

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