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🥃An Intro to Home Whiskey Blending

Bearded man at home blending whiskey, large container

Blending, the art of mixing whiskey to both make new exquisite flavors and mellow out any bad tastes, may be the height of a producer's craft. Those at home chasing a similar feeling of mastery may go deep into cocktails, creating precise recipes and techniques. Many have, upon trying a new bottle and realizing it is not to their liking, buried an offending whiskey in coke or another choice mixer, but what if you're not into sugary drinks? Enter home whiskey blending, quite simply the mixing of bottles of already prepared whiskey to make something new or satisfy inebriation fueled curiosity. We'll discuss the recommended process, considerations, and where to go for next steps.

Setting Realistic Goals for Your Home Whiskey Blend

Blending whiskey in a production setting is HARD. There is a reason why very few people in the world have the title of "master blender". These days it requires one heck of a nose and tongue in addition to a detailed understanding of production information systems, lab chemistry, and food science. Even with all that equipment and expertise, the big players occasionally get it wrong! As home blenders, we do have a little easier time in that we will be working with already passable products, but this is confounded by the fact that you may be blending whiskies that you weren't a huge fan of in the first place. If you've rated something a 7 or higher on the T8ke scale, probably don't mix that bottle unless you are willing to condemn the inputs. Home blends seldom improve upon really good whiskey, so save the good or expensive stuff till after you've accumulated some experience.

Home Whiskey Blending is typically done for one of a few reasons:

  1. To "Fix" Bad Whiskey - Adding a sweeter, more balanced, or consistent cheaper whiskey can save you from having to drain pour another bottle.
  2. To Replicate a Hard to Find Bottle - Bourbon Booms and Scotch Scarcities mean that it is sometimes very hard to find certain bottles. Home whiskey blenders may attempt to recreate the flavor profile of a unicorn using bottles that are more readily available. 
  3. Mad Science - Really the best reason to blend whiskey is because you're curious and just want to see what happens. There is beauty in "Just trying it out". 
Geometric line chart of whiskey bottles and glasses interspaced with question marks

Home Whiskey Blending - Required Materials

Just like with cooking, a good process starts by gathering all the required materials.
  • Two (or more) whiskies to blend. Less really is more when it comes to blending whiskey. Two is a great place to hang out, and I really wouldn't go past four. 
  • Liquid Measuring Cup (bonus points if you use a graduated cylinder for maximum mad science vibes)
  • Storage Container(s)
    • If you plan to let the liquids meld over time: A clean, sealable glass container. I like the little test tube looking flutes that come in Flaviar tasting sets. These are also great because you can make a handful of blends at the same time to then be able to compare and validate
    • For drinking then and there: a glass and stir stick of some sort (bonus points for beaker)
  • Masking Tape and Sharpie (Labeling Materials) - for writing down the ratios and dates if you're being scientific, otherwise as they say: "bottoms up"
  • A slight buzz, this activity may be best conducted while slightly intoxicated (at least for the tasting/sampling portion). You'll certainly be happier with the results.

Home Whiskey blending - The Process

  1. Start with a Plan - Is the goal to make an undrinkable whiskey drinkable? Are you trying to merge the best aspects of two bottles? Do you have a very one dimensional bourbon to liven up? My early attempts were to pair an over-oaked bottled with a sweeter or fruitier cheaper whiskey. Some more confident blenders may put together various Four Roses Single barrels from different recipes. I would recommend starting small, making a couple few ounce servings at a time.
  2. Pick a Ratio - Just like with cocktails, much of the outcome will be predicated on choosing the right ratios. I would stick with rough quarters. You can hone-in from there. A tasting flight of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 mixtures will likely get you pointed in the right direction. Choose one whiskey to be the base and customize the amount of the added spirits, starting at a ratio of 25% of the added spirit to 75% of the main spirit. While proof doesn't always equal flavor, you may benefit from mentally adjusting the ratios further if there is a significant proof disparity. The "bigger" bottle may overwhelm the other if used in equal portions. The resulting proof will be a volume weighted average of the proofs of the component whiskies: 
    • ([Whiskey1Volume]*[Whiskey1PercentAlcohol]+[Whiskey2Volume]*[Whiskey2PercentAlcohol])/([Whiskey1Volume]+[Whiskey2Volume])
  3. Measure and Pour - No dumping! We must maintain at least some semblance of order here. 
  4. Combine the Whiskies - Agitate the whiskey with your stirring implement and let it sit, ideally overnight. It takes time for the two liquids to actually marry. 
  5. Taste - The fun part. What kind of monster have your created? Don't agitate the whiskey again by shaking or stirring now that it is blended. Nose, taste, and record notes just like you would with any other whiskey. 
  6. Iterate - How was it? Try again if you've got the stomach for it! Don't be discouraged if the first go-around isn't fantastic. Blending is a bolt-on hobby to whiskey and you have a lifetime to perfect it.
blueprint style engineering diagram of a bottle of whiskey

Other Tricks

In addition to the basic process, there are a few other tweaks you can bring into the mix:
  • Water - Just as distillers add water both off the still and before bottling, you can add a bit of wet to down-proof your blend, mellowing it out. I wouldn't go below 80 proof and would recommend staying above 90 if possible. To Calculate the resulting proof, you can use the equation: 
    • [Starting Proof]*[Volume Whiskey]/[Volume Whiskey + Volume Water]=[Ending Proof] 
  • Smoke - Follow the process similar to what you would when making a smoked old-fashioned. Choose a wide container for the whiskey to maximize surface area
  • Flavorings - This will make some people mad, but since we're doing mad science: there are no rules. To make something truly strange, feel free to kick in Monin or other branded flavoring syrups. Caramel, vanilla, or cherry? The choice is yours, but remember: less is more.

Starter Recipes

Here are a handful of "Greatest hits" from r/WhiskeyFrankenstein, the foremost community of whiskey blending degenerates, and around the web. These are mostly tried and tested blends which seek to imitate scarce or otherwise unapproachable bottles.  
  • Poor Man's Pappy - 2/3 Maker's Mark Cask Strength - 1/3 Larceny Small Batch. This one seems to be a bit polarizing. I love MMCS, so I'm not sure I would do this, but it comes up in just about every list. 
  • Budget Blanton's - 90% Buffalo Trace - 10% 1792 Full Proof
  • Dusty Turkey Throwback - 2/3 Wild Turkey Rare Breed - 1/3 Russell's Reserve 10 YR, This one is from Rare Bird 101 and he has a few other excellent blending articles on his site. 
  • DIY Old Forester 115 - 50% Old Forester 1920 - 50% Old Forester 1910. I'm not the biggest fan of OF, but this blend does a pretty good job.

Other Fun Recipes

  • Transatlantic Steamer - 50% American Rye Whiskey (for spice) & 50% Speyside Scotch (for sweetness and fruitiness)
  • Pete's Pants - 60% Smooth Irish Whiskey (like Jameson or Bushmills) / 40% Peaty Scotch (like Laphroaig or Ardbeg)
  • Evan Phoenix - 80% Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond, 20% Very Bad Bourbon - a blend designed to even out a terrible bourbon with something else cheap. Evan BiB is somewhat simple and monotone, so a whiskey that you don't like but which has some interesting flavors is an easy combo. 
  • Children of the Corn Father - 50% Mellow Corn / 50% Old Grand Dad 114 - an interesting spice twist, playfully nutty 

Frankenstein is mixing together brown liquids
Outro

With Four Roses expanding their single barrel lineup to all 10 recipes and more whiskies entering the market at all price points, there has never been a better time to get into home whiskey blending as a hobby. It's a great way to liven-up or repurpose bottles getting dusty on your shelf. 

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