Notes: Lets face it – Blended Scotch Whisky has been a reviled product for quite a while. Long ago relegated to something that only Old Farts and alcoholics drank because it was cheap, and long passed over and overlooked with the Single Malt craze that started in the 1980’s and continues today. It was not fashionable, and frankly a lot of it was kind of awful or at least bland and mediocre.
But there always have been a few good blends out there that combined the characteristics of some of the different regional styles and flavors of Scotch at an affordable price and they were a lot more accessible to novices both in taste and price.
Pigs Nose is one of the new batch of blended Scotch whiskies that was made to be easy drinking and easy on the wallet. Following in the steps of Sheep Dip (technically a vatted malt but similar in concept and irreverent naming) Pigs Nose is made to be a smooth but interesting blend of Highland and Speyside (Macallan is one of the better known Speysides along with Glenfiddich) as the primary regions giving the most influence and two more regions ( not specified) that add up to  about 40% of this blend is malt whiskies with an admixture of grain whiskies which are blended and married together then blended  by the 3rd generation Master Blender Richard Patterson who is very well regarded in his field and the father as it were of many find blends.

Appearance: Clear Rich gold amber with some burnished copper notes.Light gold color in the glass and on swirling forms a thin coat with legs and droplets forming fairly quickly

First Impression: Caramel, grain,malt and toffee notes with some heather and soft peat notes with fruit (orange, pear and green melon notes ) set in a slightly flowery bouquet

Taste: Nicely malt centric with peat, heather,smoke and grain as the main characteristics with peat and sweetness contending with each other pleasantly in a somewhat unrefined, heavy way with loads of malt grain flavor and a fair dose of peat but not overwhelmingly so.

Drinks: A very repeatable mixing Scotch which delivers a lot of complexity to play off against for not a lot of money.Works well in a Blood and Sand, Highland Fling, Rob Roy and most of the classic Scotch cocktails ( which for the  most part used blends as their original ingredients).

Bottle: Relatively generic clear glass Scotch bottle with slightly short bulbous neck ( think Dewars and other blend bottles and you get the picture ). Tan colored paper labels with of course a (fairly well done) drawing of a pig on it, and a black screw cap capsule completing the package.

Cigars: Nothing too heavy, a pleasant Nicaraguan or Honduras Cigar, possibly La Aroma de Cuba Edicion Especial ( natural wrapper)

Final Thoughts: A well developed if slightly adolescent blend Scotch not without its charms. Recommended as a starter blended Scotch to start introducing novices to the mysteries of Scotch without scaring them off. Great as a mixer too.

Website: http://www.spencerfieldspirit.com/products/pigs-nose/

Not a lot of information there, but worth a look and check out their other product offerings.