Richard Day was born on 24th December 1880 and when he left school in 1895 he took a job with J&A Davidson who owned a brewery, a public house and a grocery shop.

In 1923 he managed to take over the grocery shop and put his own name over the door.

The Tweeddale Blend was the name of a blended whisky which was created and sold at his grocery shop, as was the fashion at that time.

Unfortunately production of The Tweeddale Blend was stopped at the onset of WWII and has not been produced since. Or should I say had not been produced until very recently when his Great Grandson (also called Richard Day) decided to reproduce it from the original recipe in his Grandfather's "Cellar Book" which was kept within the family.

Richard Day began his quest to reproduce The Tweeddale Blend in January 2009 and Batch 001 has been created and offered to various markets in 2010.

Tweeddale Blend, Batch 001, 46%

one of 1252 bottles

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Dram-atics Advent-urous live review

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Glowing golden yellow

Nose: Initially slightly leafy, a little like an English country lane on a cool and damp Autumnal early morning. After a minute or so this extends to include honey, nuts and a hint of vanilla.

Palate: Delightfully smooth with a surprisingly 'big' flavour after that nose. It is still leafy, but also has nuts, ripe red apples, honey and a good share of malt. Is that some dark fruit in there too? Maybe raisins or even plums?

Finish: Long and slightly dry right at the end.

Overall Impression: This really is an excellent blend with a big flavour-punch which I thoroughly enjoyed and I'm already looking forward to future batches.

Tweeddale Blend, Batch 002, 46%

Aged 12 years

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Bright yellow gold

Nose: Initially fresh with hints of citrus, soon followed by hay and straw which linger for some time. After some minutes (4-7) in the glass it gains an aromatic herbal quality whilst retaining leafy and grainy undertones. This is definitely what I call a countryside or outdoor whisky.

Palate: Some of those outdoor qualities transfer to the palate but it is also much more robust in flavour with butterscotch, creamy toffee and a hint of banana stem. In fact this has plenty of fruit after a few minutes with the most prominent being mango and peach which lead into the finish.

Finish: Long and fruity with just the slightest hint of coconut.

Overall Impression: Batch #2 has many similar characteristics to batch #1, but this is definitely more mature as it has lost that spiritiness and gained more fruit. A very nice 'anytime' blend indeed.