Hey Nancy!   
      
    NB> it might have been a way to use up odds and ends   
      
   I believe you are probably right about that.  The more expensive bottlings   
   might be from single barrels or perhaps a number of barrels but of the same   
   age.  The only example I am aware of where they guarentee a single barrel is   
   the 15yo The Balvenie Single Barrel, which is worth over 200 CAD these days.    
   Mind you they also claim that one to be hand bottled but to be honest I don't   
   know if I could tell the difference between that and a regular 15yo The   
   Balvenie ... if there is such a thing.   
      
    NB> maybe they got some backlash about blending... not exactly a   
    NB> single malt if it's blended...  ;)   
      
   Actually it still is a single malt even if blended.  According to   
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_malt_Scotch the definition is, and I   
   quote;   
      
     Single malt Scotch is single malt whisky made in Scotland.  To be a   
     single malt scotch the whisky must have been distilled at a single   
     distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a   
     mash of malted grain. In Scotland, the only grain allowed to be used   
     in a single malt whisky is barley. As with any Scotch whisky, a   
     single malt Scotch must be distilled in Scotland and matured in oak   
     casks in Scotland for at least three years and one day. (Most single   
     malts are matured longer.)   
      
   Furthermore the above schpeil states;   
      
     Bottlings containing malt whisky from multiple distilleries are called   
     "blended malt".   
      
   From the above I deduce that almost every scotch from Scotland is single   
   malt.  Most (all?) of the blended I have had are from Canadian distilleries.    
   I have run across single malt whiskies from Canadian distilleries but have   
   never tried any.  An interesting sounding one is "Glen Breton Rare Canadian   
   Single Malt Whisky" priced at ~75 CAD which is more than 12yo Glenlivet.  Care   
   to guess which one I would (will) purchase?   
      
    NB> you've had help imbibing   
      
   That is putting it mildly.  I suspect that is what will happen with the   
   Macallan.   
      
    NB> Just don't let any of the usual suspects know it exists, and   
    NB> you'll have an easier time of keeping it around...  :)   
      
   That is impossible around here.  However only one of my neighbours is aware of   
   the 15yo and knows what hassel/expense etc. I went through to obtain it so he   
   hasn't brought it up.  Also it is stashed out of sight.  Also, also everyone   
   who knows me knows that there normally isn't anything to be had unless it is   
   November to January 1.  After that I am a teetotaller.  It has been that way   
   for around two decades now and a few of the years I've gone without buying any   
   at all.  However the January 1 thingy we started pretty well much guarentees   
   that there will be a bottle of single malt available for that.  :-)   
      
   Life is good,   
   Maurice   
      
   ... Future cybertoasts of note:   
       2018-01-01 is   49 days from now and falls on a Monday.   
       2024-11-05 is 2549 days from now and falls on a Tuesday.   
   --- GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-silvermont-linux-gnu)   
    * Origin: Pointy Stick Society - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001.250)