Light and delicate vanilla notes on the nose. Floral, malty, soft and slightly honeyed. Monkey Shoulder has a smooth and rounded taste with hints of malty sweetness, vanilla, barley sugar and marmalade. Using only single malt, and no grain, Scotch whisky from the three William Grant Speyside distilleries, the Malt Master, David Stewart has developed a new style 'triple' malt. Its smooth and rich qualities make it ideal for mixing, but the best way to savour Monkey Shoulder is over ice in 'Brass Monkey' form. Jim Murray is a fan, awarding Monkey Shoulder a rating of 93% in his 2006 Whisky Bible, adding "David Stewart clearly has the malts in the palm of his hands".
Why the name Monkey Shoulder?The malt men at William Grant & Sons are among the few to still turn the malting barley by hand using a shiel - a special wooden shovel. And Monkey Shoulder was the nickname given to a temporary injury their predecessors suffered many years ago. Luckily for the new fellows, working practices have now changed so the condition no longer exists. The name is inspired by and, in honour of, their passion. Crafted in small batches of just 27 casks, Monkey Shoulder is guaranteed to have a consistent smooth and rounded taste. And you may have noticed, the bottle features a triplet of monkeys. The three brass monkeys represent the three single malt producing distilleries whose product is blended together to create the triple malt that is Monkey Shoulder.
