SMWS 93.35 (Glen Scotia 17 yo 1981/2008)

SMWS 93.35 (Glen Scotia 17 yo 1981/2008)

2008, SMWS
Single malt - Campbeltown
Golden
58.9% ABV
Dram

Nose: Rubber, smoke, new plastic, vanilla, honey, toffee, burnt sugar, hints of peaches. With water, sweeter, marmalade, more peaches.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, slightly oily, a little watery around the edges.
Tasting: Sweet. Burnt sugar, brass polish, rubber, smoke, raisins, honey, peaches, hints of vanilla, hints of orange peel. With water, sweeter, creme brulee, marmalade, peaches.
Finish: Medium. Burnt sugar, walnut skins, orange peel.

Comments:

Sweet and sensual, like munching peaches while sitting in the sun. This doesn't taste like Glen Scotia much, except at the very beginning when there's a strong hit of phenols and smoke. Ultimately this is sweet fruity whisky struggling to get out of a Campbeltown cloak.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS 9.47 (Glen Grant 24 yo 1984/2009)

SMWS 9.47 (Glen Grant 24 yo 1984/2009)

2009, SMWS
Single malt - Speyside
Butter gold
51.4% ABV
Dram

Nose: Coca cola, butter, brown paper, smoked ham, dried apricots, hints of dried apples, hints of raisins.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, slightly oily, thickens.
Tasting: Sweet sour. Coca cola, butter, dried apricots, dried apples, vanilla, honey, smoked ham.
Finish: Short. Faint, vanilla, dried apples, hints of brown paper.

Comments:

Voluptuous and big (flavour-wise), with a teasing oily mouthfeel. Lots of dried fruit, like the good, aged, sherried Glen Grants out there. I think this was a bourbon cask though. Slow-aging whisky, but at its peak.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS 69.11 (Glen Albyn 27 yo 1979/2006)

SMWS 69.11 (Glen Albyn 27 yo 1979/2006)

SMWS, 2006
Single malt - North Highlands
Light gold
58.1% ABV
Dram

Nose: Hazelnuts, lemon zest, orange peel, white wine, condensed milk, hints of peat. With water, vanilla, raisins.
Mouthfeel: Light body, watery, static.
Tasting: Bitter sour. Peat, leather, hazelnuts, lemon zest, white wine, photocopy paper, hints of orange peel, hints of smoke. With water, vanilla, raisins, hints of peaches.
Finish: Long. Walnut skins, leather, lemon zest, hazelnuts, peat.

Comments:

Unusual for a non-Islay whisky - peaty, even slightly smoky, with a lively lemony lilt. It becomes more familiar with a dribble of water though, fruitier and sweeter. An odd whisky surely, I get the feeling this was rushed out of the door because it was approaching its sell-by date.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS 29.75 (Laphroaig 18 yo 1990/2009)

SMWS 29.75 (Laphroaig 18 yo 1990/2009)

2009, SMWS
Single malt - Islay
Light amber
51.5% ABV
Dram

Nose: Toffee, cinnamon, bacon, smoke, peat, honey, apples, hints of raisins, hints of nutmeg.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, astringent, tingly.
Tasting: Bitter. Smoke, peat, leather, bacon, cinnamon, honey, apples, hints of orange peel.
Finish: Short. Apples, smoke, peat, driftwood.

Comments:

Dry and astringent mouthfeel, absolutely no sweet elements on the tongue (although there are pleasant fruity flavours making their way up through the nose). An uncompromising Laphroaig, hard to understand, takes no prisoners.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS 26.57 (Clynelish 24 yo 1984/2008)

SMWS 26.57 (Clynelish 24 yo 1984/2008)

2008, SMWS
Single malt - North Highlands
Bright gold
55.4% ABV
Dram

Nose: Lemon sweets, peaches, honey, orange peel, brass polish, biscuits, hints of marzipan.
Mouthfeel: Light body, turns watery, fades quickly.
Tasting: Sweet sour. Peaches, vanilla, lemon sweets, brass polish, biscuits, honey, orange peel, hints of toffee.
Finish: Medium. Peanuts, peaches, lemon sweets.

Comments:

Classic Clynelish. Chock full of delicious peach and biscuit notes, underpinned by a river of acacia honey. This is whisky that is the equivalent of any Brora out there. Clynelish rarely reaches these heights, unfortunately, but when it does, well, it's very very good indeed.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Speyburn 10 yo

Speyburn 10 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Speyside
Butter
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Coconut, peat, raisins, olive oil, peaches, hints of smoke, hints of apples.
Mouthfeel: Light body, turns watery, tingly .
Tasting: Sweet. Coconut, peat, raisins, apples, vanilla, golden syrup, hints of smoke.
Finish: Medium. Raisins, golden syrup, coconut, olive oil.

Comments:

Now this whisky has a strange combination of flavours. There's coconut, and something slightly peppery yet sour smooth, very like olive oil. Overlaying that is a whole cloud of sweet fruity notes that screams Speyside whisky. I could drink more of this, purely for research purposes, you understand...

Verdict:

I like this.

Longrow 1995 10 yo

Longrow 1995 10 yo

Official bottling
Single malt - Campbeltown
Silvery gold
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Peat, maple syrup, honey, orange peel, toffee, hints of smoke.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens quickly, egg white consistency.
Tasting: Bitter sweet. Peat, smoke, maple syrup, toffee, raisins, orange peel, burnt sugar.
Finish: Medium. Smoke, peat, maple syrup.

Comments:

Candy in a smoke house! I don't know where the usual Springbank lamb's wool notes have gone, but in their place there's a sweet, slightly bitter, raft of flavours reminiscent of cooked sugar - burnt sugar, maple syrup, toffee etc etc. Very pleasant indeed.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Knob Creek 9 yo

Knob Creek 9 yo

Official bottling
Single bourbon - Kentucky
Amber
50% ABV
Dram

Nose: Brown paper, bananas, honey, melons, vanilla, hints of peaches. With water, white grapes, more peaches.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, tingly, hot.
Tasting: Sweet. Chillies, bananas, honey, melons, peaches, hints of toffee, hints of golden syrup. With water, white grapes, corn syrup, more peaches.
Finish: Long. Brown paper, chillies, toffee, melons.

Comments:

Bourbons tend, to my palate, to be very estery, with loads of banana and brown paper flavours. There's a lot of that in this one, but there's something more. Melon flavours are esters too, and those are present in great quantity here. The bourbon is sweet, with an engaging spicy hint on the tongue.

Verdict:

I like this.

Jura Elements (Water) 1989

Jura Elements (Water) 1989

Official bottling
Single malt - Islands
Amber
49.6% ABV
Dram

Nose: Orange juice, vanilla, winter melon, vanilla, pine, honey, hints of golden syrup, hints of coconut.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, turns watery, loosens, cool.
Tasting: Sweet. Winter melon, vanilla, honey, golden syrup, hints of brown paper, hints of walnut skins.
Finish: Long. Walnut skins, brown paper, winter melon.

Comments:

For an expression styled "Water", the whisky doesn't actually need any water! There are few hints of its Jura origin, with some pine present only in the nose. The floral chemical notes have been transmuted to something resembling winter melon (not too sweet, harsher than say honeydew melons). Interesting Jura.

Verdict:

I like this.

Blair Athol Distillery

Blair Athol Distillery
Perth Road
Pitlochry
Perthshire PH16 5LY

Central Highlands, Scotland - Active

Flavour profile

Blair Athol is a whisky where a simple core is hidden under a veneer of complex flavours. The core consists of something leathery, maybe slightly bitter and hoppy. I suppose where I say "leather" I really mean light peat. The tannic scent that infuses Blair Athol whisky (for me) isn't really strong enough to count as peat, certainly not the full-fledged peat one gets in Islay whiskies. Instead, it's gentle, subtle, a little whiffy, like the inside of a new car, or a leather wallet.

This is further leavened and hidden by a citric tang. In different Blair Athols I've found that this can take several different guises (orange juice and lemon juice, as well as peaches). There are several other sweet fruity notes, among them vanilla and raisins, that also soften the leathery flavours.


All the Blair Athols I've tasted so far are here.

Blair Athol 12 yo Flora & Fauna - good
Blair Athol 12 yo 1993/2006 - very good
Blair Athol 12 yo 1993/2005 - good
Blair Athol 13 yo 1993/2006 - ok

Distillery history

Blair Athol was founded in 1798, as Aldour distillery, by John Stewart and Robert Robertson. The distillery was renamed Blair Athol in 1825 by Robertson. It eventually passed to Alexander Connacher & Co, to Peter Mackenzie & Company, which eventually became part of Arthur Bell & Sons, which in turn became part of Guinness and thence Diageo. The distillery was silent in 1832 (possibly until 1860) and again from 1931 to 1949.

Besides the 12 yo Flora & Fauna expression, there aren't many other official bottlings. Diageo released a 27 yo cask strength malt, distilled in 1975, as part of its Rare Malts series in 2003. The whisky is a major component of Bell's (but of course!).

Potted distillery facts

Water source: Allt Dour, a burn running through the distillery grounds
Washbacks: Eight. Four, stainless steel, two 25,000 litres, two 30,000 litres, and four, larch, 18,000 litres
Wash stills: Two, normal neck, 13,000 litres
Spirit stills: Two, normal neck, 11,500 litres
Spirit still Lyne arm: Slightly descending
Production per year: over 1,000,000 litres

- The Scottish Whisky Distilleries, Misako Udo