Edinburgh, Dec 20: Distinguished malts have taken a beating in the latest listing of the world's best whisky issued by Jim Murray's Whisky Bible.
The Bible, which is regarded as the world's best-selling and most influential whisky guide and has a devoted international following, has this year decided to give the world's best whisky title to a blend -- Old Parr Superior 18 Years.
Jim Murray awarded The Old Parr 97 points out of 100, equalling the highest-ever score in the Whisky Bible. It racked up 25 out of 25 points for both nose and taste, another 24 for overall balance and 23 for the finish.
The Old Parr Superior 18 years sells for less than 20 pounds a bottle online, and is almost exclusively exported to the Far East.
Another Diageo blend, the White Horse 12 Years Old, also picked up the Scotch Blended Whisky of the Year (8-12yrs). The Whisky Bible awarded Single Malt of the Year to Brora 30-years-old Fourth Release.
Old Parr Superior, which is bottled by MacDonald Greenlees Distillers, Edinburgh, beat more than 3,600 drams.
"To be honest, British drinkers just don't have a good enough choice when it comes to blended Scotch. We are going through a golden age for blends right now but, for the majority of drinkers here, you'd never know it," the Scotsman quoted Murray, as saying.
"I think both these whiskies have core markets in Japan. The truly classic blends like Old Parr Superior and White Horse 12 are export brands and you have to travel a long way to savour them," he added.
Scotch whisky is one of Britain's top five export earners, with exports currently representing 90 percent of all Scotch whisky sales annually and worth approximately 2.5 billion pounds annually.
Scotch whisky is exported to 200 different markets worldwide, with the European Union, the US, Japan and Asia being the most important. China, in particular, has become the world's fastest growing market.
"To get recognition from an expert like Jim Murray is just great news, particularly for blends that perhaps haven't been as well known by the public. It's good for Scotch and good for Scotland," said Peter Smith of Diageo.
Bureau Report with ANI inputs