Independent blending is having a moment, and Woven Whisky sits right at the sharp end of it. Their Homemade Whisky / Sherried Scotch Blend is exactly the kind of bottle that makes you pay attention — a blended Scotch built around sherry cask influence, bottled at 46.4% without chill filtration. At £44.95, it's pitched squarely at drinkers who want craft credentials without the triple-digit price tag that single malts increasingly demand.
I should be upfront: I spent years at Diageo watching blended Scotch get treated as the unglamorous workhorse of the industry. The category was built on consistency and volume, not excitement. But outfits like Woven are rewriting that script. Their approach — sourcing component whiskies and assembling them with genuine intent — is closer to what a winemaker does with a cuvée than what the big houses do with their standard blends. The 'Homemade' label is cheeky, but it signals something real: this is small-batch, hands-on work.
The sherried influence is the headline here. Choosing to lead with sherry cask character in a blend is a deliberate move. It tells you this isn't trying to be a light, easy-drinking supermarket Scotch. At 46.4%, they've given it enough muscle to carry that cask influence without drowning it. The decision to go above 46% rather than settling at the now-standard 46% flat suggests they've found a sweet spot specific to this particular batch — a detail I appreciate.
NAS blends get a bad reputation, often deservedly. But when an independent blender drops the age statement, it's usually because they're prioritising flavour over a number on the box. With Woven, the lack of a confirmed distillery source is part of the proposition. You're trusting the blender's palate, not a brand name. That requires confidence, and on the evidence of this bottle, it's justified.
Tasting Notes
I'll hold off on granular tasting notes for this one until I can sit with it properly across several sessions. What I will say is that the sherried character is unmistakable from the moment you pour — this is a whisky that wears its cask influence proudly. Expect dried fruit richness, a certain warmth and weight that belies its blended origins, and a finish that reminds you this isn't some throwaway dram.
The Verdict
At £44.95, the Woven Sherried Scotch Blend represents genuine value. You're getting a thoughtfully constructed, higher-strength blended Scotch with real sherry cask character for less than most entry-level single malts. It won't convert the snobs who refuse to look past the word 'blended' on the label — but frankly, that's their loss. This is a serious whisky made by people who clearly care about what ends up in the bottle. A 7.6 out of 10 feels right: it's a confident, well-executed blend that over-delivers for the price, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of the best independent bottlings I've tasted this year.
Best Served
Pour it neat in a Glencairn and give it ten minutes to open up — that extra half-percent above 46% means it benefits from a little air. If you're feeling adventurous, a few drops of water will tease out more of the sherry sweetness. This also makes a superb Old Fashioned if you want the dried fruit notes to play against a good demerara syrup. Don't waste it in a highball — there are cheaper bottles for that.
