Blended Scotch Carignan Mencia Scotland Highland

Carignan is an ancient blue-skinned grape varietal, thought to be indigenous to the Aragon region of Spain. However, today it is most commonly associated with the fine wines of southern France, and has been grown in many countries around the world which have the warm and dry conditions it requires to thrive. Carignan is recognized as being quite a sensitive vine, highly susceptible to all kinds of rot and mildew, although producing excellent results when given the right conditions and handled correctly. Its high tannin levels and acidity make the Carignan grapes very astringent, and as such, they are often used as a blending grape to give body to other, lesser bodied varietals. Despite this, with careful treatment, Carignan can produce superb single varietal wines packed full of character and unique attributes.

For fans of fine scotch whisky, there’s nowhere quite like the Highlands. This single malt whisky region is the largest in Scotland, covering a vast swathe of the country and providing a great deal of variation, and both subtle and dramatic differences in style, flavor, aroma and character from bottle to bottle. This isn’t surprising, when you consider how varied the landscape of the Highlands is. Here, you find towering mountains, misty moorlands, urban centres and rugged coastlines, each with their own distilleries creating their own interpretations of single malt scotch whisky.

Due to it being such a large region, the Highlands produces around twenty-five percent of all Scotland’s whiskies. Thirty distilleries are still operating in the Highlands, continuing a set of whisky traditions that stretches back centuries, and always innovating and experimenting in order to achieve the best expression of their unique surroundings. Great pride is taken in maintaining traditional techniques, and alongside state of the art equipment, Highland scotch is forever pushing the possibilities and reaching new heights.

Highland scotch is difficult to pigeonhole and characterize with a set of flavors or features, because there is so much variety between the distilleries in the north, and those in the southern and central parts of this region. However, the most common flavor profiles include rich, fruit-cakey flavors, smoky notes from the production techniques which include burning peat, and dried fruit, oak and fragrant heather.