This review covers Dewar’s 12 Year Old, the brand’s 12-year-old Blended Scotch — not White Label or the older-age Dewar’s blends. I tasted the current 700ml, 40% bottle sold in Japan, neat first, then with water, over ice and as a highball. Compared with the previous bottling, the current one tastes sweeter to me, with a smoother mouthfeel.
It’s a well-balanced, easy blend. Apple, pear, vanilla and honey lead on the nose with a soft touch of smoke; the palate adds malt, orange, a little spice and some woodiness, and the finish brings gentle smoke, malt and rich oak at a moderate length. The smoke is very faint — enough to notice, never enough to be a quirk — and what you mostly taste is vanilla-and-honey sweetness and toasty cask notes. There’s a hint of alcohol on the nose, and a little sting neat despite the 12 years, but the balance is good enough that it’s still very easy to drink. The trade-off for that integration is individuality: nothing about it really stands out.
Where it really shines is away from the neat glass: it’s excellent on the rocks and as a highball, and it’s particularly good as a base for whisky cocktails. I keep it at my bar for highballs and cocktails. It doesn’t always give the strongest whisky punch, but its sweetness, oak and gentle smoke integrate cleanly with other ingredients, so cocktails come out elegant and well balanced, and it works across a wide range of recipes. Compared with Johnnie Walker Black Label, I find Dewar’s 12 tends to make cocktails feel more balanced and refined.
For another sweet, smooth blend, see my Chivas Regal Extra 13 Sherry Cask review, or browse our Blended Scotch reviews.