The Art of the Blend is a new platform for whisky makers to showcase their own expressions, one blend at a time.
A statement from Art of the Blend founder Todd Lawrence explained that there’s art to whisky making, and this new venture looks to bring these creative skills to the forefront by offering whisky makers a blank canvas to develop their blends.
Lawrence said that each release will be created by a different whisky maker without restrictions, skillfully selected and artistically blended.
To make this happen, Lawrence has collaborated with some of the best in the whisky industry, mostly through friendships and whisky consultants who have offered their expertise and guidance.
For the Art of the Blend’s first release, it’s a collaboration with whisky maker Max McFarlane.
McFarlane has worked in the whisky industry for 46 years and is a Keeper of the Quaich. He’s put together single malts such as Glengoyne, Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Bunnahabhain and Highland Park.
With his freedom to create, McFarlane selected three first-fill Sherry casks for The Art of the Blend’s first release. His notes show the blend to have brown sugar, dark chocolate, stone fruit compote and cinnamon spice on the nose. The palate is balanced with dry spicy notes, sherry trifle and chocolate brownies. It finishes with a raisiny sherry.
“The Art of the Blend is built on trusting the artistic skills of the whisky maker and giving them free rein to develop each release,” Todd Lawrence said of the new venture.
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Lawrence noted that he’s new to the whisky industry and does not claim to be a whisky expert, instead he calls himself a collector and a whisky enthusiast. He is, however, the designer and patent holder of the Whisky Vault, a handcrafted bulletproof whisky display he sells to collectors around the world.
And with that, he’s developed a network in the whisky industry.
The second release in the Art of the Blend series will be in collaboration with another whisky icon, finance professional turned whisky maker, Dhavall Gandhi. He was whisky maker for The Macallan before joining The Lakes Distillery as whisky director.
Gandhi judges at various whisky competitions, including the international Wine and Spirits Competition and the World Whisky Awards. Dhavall was also named Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year 2021 by Whisky Magazine.
“I’ve created The Art of the Blend for whisky makers and for whisky lovers. Let’s let the liquid tell the story, one blend at a time,” Lawrence said. “Each blended masterpiece unveiling a new story, creating history. The whisky maker is our celebrity.”
For this first blend, coming from the Sherry cask-finished Scotch from three different Speyside distilleries, by Max McFarlane, the liquid clocks in at 58.8% ABV, non-chill filtered. It has a suggested retail price of $350USD for a 700 ml. The entire run is limited to 1,968 bottles.
To get on the list and to find out more information, check out www.theartoftheblend.com.
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