The Art of the Blend

Pali High Grad Aims to Give Whisky Makers a ‘Blank Canvas’ to Develop ‘Alluring Blends’

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Palisades Charter High School graduate Todd Lawrence is no stranger to the pages of the Palisadian-Post: A series of features ran about him and Sky McMullan in the early ’90s, when the pair traveled the world for a year after graduating high school, visiting a total of 22 countries.

Then, Lawrence was featured again in the early 2000s, detailing his life in Taiwan, having moved to the country in June 1995. Most recently, in 2018, he designed and built a bulletproof whisky vault, an idea that originated when he was searching for a whisky cabinet to display a few collectible bottles he had acquired over the years.

And now, Lawrence—a self-described whisky enthusiast—has embarked on a new venture associated with whisky, launching The Art of the Blend, which is a “platform for whisky makers to showcase their own unique expressions.”

“There is a true art to whisky making seldom observed by the consumer,” according to The Art of the Blend’s website. “We bring these creative skills to the forefront by offering whisky makers a blank canvas to develop their most alluring blends. Imagine the freedom to create a masterpiece without restrictions, the blending combinations are endless.”

Over the years that he has been collecting whisky, scotch and bourbons, Lawrence said that he found whisky makers—similar to a chef in a restaurant—oftentimes work behind the scenes.

“I wanted to do something to bring them into the spotlight and for them to do a masterpiece on their own,” Lawrence explained.

When a whisky maker is at a distillery, he continued, they are given a recipe and they have to make the whisky the same every year, based on blending different casks together. In 2020, Lawrence began talking to friends in the industry that he knew from his whisky vault.

“A friend of mine in Scotland put me in touch with Max McFarlane,” Lawrence said. “I gave him the idea of what I was doing and I said, ‘Look, I want to do something for the whisky makers,’ and he got it right away. His eyes lit up.”

Lawrence recalled that McFarlane, who has been in the whisky making business for more than four decades, said that no one has ever asked, “What do you want to do?”

“It’s always been, you’re the whisky maker, make it the way we want it from the history of our distillery,” Lawrence continued.

The first release of The Art of the Blend was crafted by McFarlane, featuring “three carefully selected first fill Oloroso sherry casks from three different distilleries, married at 58.8% abv, non-chill filtered, natural color.”

“A finish so spectacular,” the label promised, “it will want to holiday on your palate.”

McFarlane found different casks over the course of about a year, sampled them and sent samples to Lawrence to try.

“After they were secured,” Lawrence explained, “he would go to the bottling company and he would do his magic. He would blend it, do the ratios.”

The result, Lawrence added, is a premium blended malt. A single malt is a blend of different casks from one distillery, Lawrence explained, while a blended malt is a blend of casks from more than one distillery.

Lawrence said he feels that blended malts have gotten a bad rap over the years, so part of his journey with The Art of the Blend is educating people on what a blended malt has the potential to be.

“The industry is watching, as they’ve tried to do it so many times and failed,” Lawrence said. “So, if something’s successful, I mean, it shows that people can accept blended malts.”

For those looking to get their hands on the first release, it is limited to one release of 1,968 bottles.

“Brown sugar, dark chocolate, stone fruit compote and cinnamon spice will envelope the nose,” according to a statement. “The palate is beautifully balanced with dry spicy notes, sherry trifle and chocolate brownies.”

Lawrence and McFarlane worked with Stranger & Stranger to design the bottle, who Lawrence said is “the best in the industry.”

“An award-winning design house taking label design to a whole new level and beyond with their creative artistry,” a statement read. “In their latest project with The Art of the Blend, they have effortlessly brought together the art of whisky making with brilliant visionary style that will undoubtedly help catapult this blended malt into the spotlight.”

Each release by The Art of the Blend will be developed by a different whisky maker, each of who will be given “free rein” to do “whatever they want.”

“It will taste completely different than the first one,” Lawrence explained.

Lawrence has plans to highlight whisky makers in different areas, including Ireland, the UK, Japan, United States and beyond. He also planned on keeping each batch three, maybe four casks, depending what the whisky maker wants to do.

“I want to keep it very small batch and very exclusive,” he said. “I’m building a platform for whisky makers to ship their best.”

For more information, visit theartoftheblend.com. The Art of the Blend first release is available locally at Wally’s in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.