Distillery: Blair Athol
Whisky Type: Single Malt
Region: Highland
Strength: 58.40%
Age: 23 Year Old
Maturation: Ex-bodega European Oak butts
Availability: 5,514 released globally
Bottle Size: 700ml
The first official release from this highland distillery since 2003. Matured in European oak butts that have been scraped, toasted, recharred and refilled with fortified wine in the UK before being filled with whisky, the result is a deep, rich single malt.
Flavour Profile: Nose
Peanut brittle and honey leap out; intensely sweet with a savoury backbone. Hints of toffee and caramel continue, with brûlée topping and baked bananas. Next a complex layer of herb and spice; tarragon and mint with warming spice.
Flavour Profile: Palate
Rich, smooth, sweet and warming; fruity too. Much more savoury than the nose, with barrel char, spicy oak and liquorice. Aniseed ball heat and treacle toffee sweetness bring on lighter and sweeter notes of candied lemon zest and spiced cooking apple, before diving back into leafy herbs and warming spice. Water smoothly lifts the sweetness, with bitter-sweet fruit and oak, and sweet pepper.
Flavour Profile: Finish
Sweetly fragrant and spicy, as the sweetness of mint creams and caster sugar fades to leave a herb garden after rain and soft, oaky spice.