Blended whiskies

A blended whiskey (or blended whisky) is the product of blending different types of whiskeys and sometimes also neutral grain spirits, coloring, and flavorings. It is generally the product of mixing one or more higher-quality straight or single malt whiskies with less expensive spirits and other ingredients. This allows for a lower priced product, though expensive "premium" varieties also exist.

Some examples of blended whiskey include Canadian Mist, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Seagram's Seven American whiskey, the premium Japanese brand Hibiki and the various Scotch whisky blends sold under the Johnnie Walker brand.

Higher proof, less aged spirits are usually much less expensive to produce than straight whiskey or single malt whisky, and are thus used as the primary spirits in most blends, with the more premium whiskies and other ingredients added for flavoring.

Most cocktails and mixed drinks that contain whiskey are made using economically priced blended whiskey rather than higher priced whiskey, since the presence of the other ingredients makes the subtleties of the taste of the whiskey less critical to the overall taste of the drink. However, drinks establishments will often upsell the use of a premium top-shelf liquor in mixed drinks for better taste (and higher revenue).

Most Canadian whiskies are blends. Any grain spirit aged for at least three years in Canada may be called Canadian whisky. Regulations do not specify any distillation limit, although in practice it differs little from the Scottish and Irish limit of 94.8%, as the purity of neutral grain spirit has a practical limit of approximately that value. Canadian whisky may contain both caramel and flavorings.

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