The 'copper dog' was a small sealed copper tube, roughly the length of a whisky bottle, that distillery workers would lower into a cask on a string, fill with whisky, and hide in the inside pocket of a long coat. It was a time-honoured way of taking a sample home without troubling the gauger. The name was adopted by Diageo in 2016 for a new Speyside blended malt launched in association with The Copper Dog bar at the Craigellachie Hotel.
The blend is drawn from malts distilled in Speyside. Diageo has not named the constituent distilleries in any detail, but the style is unmistakably the region's — fruit-led, honeyed, easy on the oak. It is bottled at 40% without an age statement.
The nose leans sweet: honey, pear, vanilla, a twist of orange. The palate is soft and compliant, with butterscotch and toffee apple and the barest dusting of baking spice. The finish lingers pleasantly without demanding attention.
Copper Dog is built for mixing as much as for sipping — the brand's own marketing suggests it in a Highball with ginger ale — and it suits the job. At around £30 it is sensibly priced for a Speyside blended malt, and the bar-top story travels well with it. The whisky is not ambitious, but it is nicely turned out and unfailingly pleasant.
