The Monarch takes its name, and its stag's-head branding, from Sir Edwin Landseer's 1851 painting "The Monarch of the Glen," a canvas that has done more than any other to cement the Highland imagination in the public eye. It is a fitting reference: Dewar's has always traded on Highland credentials, and Aberfeldy, the blend's heart malt, sits squarely in the Perthshire glens Landseer knew.
At fifteen years the Double Aged principle has longer to work. The component whiskies, having matured to their stated age, are married again in oak, and the result is a blend of noticeable integration. The nose is honey and dried apricot, vanilla custard, a polished-oak note suggestive of well-kept furniture rather than sawmill. The palate is rounder and more generous than the twelve — honey still, but now with stewed fruit, fudge, a faint citrus lift and a gentle spice that holds the sweetness in check.
The finish is medium-long and warming, honeyed oak trailing into a trace of toasted nut. It is an unhurried whisky, and rewards an unhurried drinker.
Whether The Monarch represents better value than the twelve is a matter of taste and pocket. It is certainly more complete, and its extra years show in the smoother integration rather than in any dramatic flourish. If you admire the Dewar's house style — honey, poise, restraint — the fifteen is the expression in which that style reaches its most comfortable stride.
