MONKEY SHOULDER BLENDED MALT BRINGS SCOTCH TO A NEW YOUNGER GENERATION
Forget everything you’ve been told about Scotch – all the stuffy rules and traditions that can prevent
people from enjoying whisky are being ripped up with Monkey Shoulder, a game-changing blended
malt from Scotland.
While authentic to its core – it’s named after an old tale about distillery workers – Monkey Shoulder
is a Scotch that blows the cobwebs away from the whisky world and banishes the talk of baffling
taste profiles, regional specifications, age statements and distillery nuances that can put people off.
Monkey Shoulder is a free-spirited, fun-loving blended malt with an easy-going smooth, rich and
mellow vanilla deliciousness that means it can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks, mixed or in cocktails.
Scotch snobs say you shouldn’t drink whisky with ice or mix it with cocktails, but there are no old-
fashioned rules when it comes to enjoying Monkey Shoulder. That’s why bartenders love Monkey
Shoulder – this is a sociable Scotch that loves to mingle and won’t be left gathering dust on the top
shelf of the bar like traditional malts that can only be served by the dram.
A combination of three single malt Scotch whiskies all matured in oak casks that previously held
Bourbon (that’s where all the smooth mellow vanilla goodness comes from), Monkey Shoulder is
launched by renowned independent, family-owned distillers William Grant & Sons. Its nod to its
heritage is in its name – years ago, distillery workers would shovel tonnes of malting barley by hand,
hour after hour. This hard work sometimes caused a sore shoulder and their arm to hang down, a bit
like a chimpanzee. The men called this temporary affliction ‘monkey shoulder’ and the Scotch is
named in their honour.
Monkey Shoulder blended malt Scotch whisky is distilled, matured and bottled in Dufftown,
Speyside, the heart of Scotch whisky-making land. Production is overseen by our taste guru (aka in
the industry by the more formal title of ‘Malt Master’) Brian Kinsman, who said, “Monkey Shoulder
is an authentic Scotch with all the exceptional qualities you would expect of a malt whisky, but
without any of the stereotypical baggage. Using casks that have previously held Bourbon gives
Monkey Shoulder a smooth and rich mellow vanilla taste that is accessible to everyone, regardless of
how much they know about Scotch malt whisky. We want to break down the barriers and let people
discover a new way to enjoy malt whisky without having to worry about all the history and traditions
that can be off-putting.”
The time has come to demystify the stuffy world of whisky and introduce Scotch to a new generation
of drinkers – and Monkey Shoulder is leading the charge.
