Four Blair Athol, old and new

February 16, 2014

Four Blair Athol, old and new

Blair Athol is the other light Midlander that should not be overlooked. A beautiful distillery too...

Blair Athol 15 yo 1998/2013 (46%, Càrn Mor, hogshead, 2 casks, 736 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: wait, this is pure Williams pear eau-de-vie, straight from a Holstein still! That lasts for quite some minutes before more vanilla and sweet barley notes show up. Corn syrup. Mouth: sweet apple juice, sweet beer and just touches of pepper. Bubblegum, jellybeans, pear drops again, barley water… It’s fine but I wouldn’t say there’s much character. A touch of yeast too. Finish: shortish, a little bitter now. Leaves and stems, green tea… Comments: averagely to my liking. SGP:451 - 75 points.

Blair Athol 20 yo 1993/2013 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, sherry butt, ref #DL9908, 477 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: a rounder, more matured and more sweetly oaky version this time. Butterscotch, fudge, millionaire shortbread, then more hay and straight vanilla. With water: the yeasty side comes out, beer, cider, fresh bread, porridge… Mouth (neat): a nice citrusy arrival, mainly on caramelised tangerines and orange blossom honey, with then more mead and lemon pie with meringue. Never forget meringue on lemon pies! With water: sweeter, even a little sugary, with a faint rubbery bitterness in the background. Finish: medium length. Candy sugar and apple pie, malt and green peppercorns in the aftertaste. Comments: certainly fine but I don’t find it outstanding. May lack character. SGP:441 - 78 points.

Blair Athol 20 yo 1993/2013 (57.8%, The First Editions, sherry butt, 512 bottles)

Colour: dark gold. Nose: rather some rum, Demerara sugar and caramel this time, with touches of cherry liqueur and raisins. Then various herbal teas, chamomile, plain grass and hay… With water: it’s now grassier. Leaves, branches, bark… Also porridge and bread. Mouth (neat): very similar to the DL this time, with just the same citrusy notes, the tangerines, the lemon pies (and their meringue, ha)… Even the extra-6.3% don’t quite feel. With water: a little rounder, with also more marmalade and bitter oranges. So a little more to my liking than its brother. Finish: medium length. Again a little rounder and more marmalady and lemony. Comments: another fine Blair Athol in my opinion, although I wouldn’t say it’s the most entertaining malt ever. SGP:541 - 80 points.

And now a little digestif...

Blair Athol 12 yo (46%, OB, Italy, 1960s)

This could be really grandiose. As you may know, the Dufftowns and Blair Athols from the 1960s or even early 1970s could be fabulous. And did you notice the strength? 46% vol. is nothing really new. Colour: gold. Nose: oh yes, a fragrant blend of herbal teas (verbena and wormwood first, then chamomile and honeysuckle) with a little tar, pollen, honeycomb, camphor, tobacco and just a touch of metal (iron). Perfect Old Bottle Effect. Enough said. Mouth: excellent, vibrant, fruity, herbal and phenolic. Much more tropical than the others (but tropical fruits can come with Old Bottle Effect in my opinion), mangos and passion fruits, oranges, aniseed and fennel, mint, liquorice, citrons, coriander leaves, angelica… What a whirlwind at 46% vol.! Only these faint notes of damp cardboard could be seen as a very minor flaw. Finish: very long, jammy and fresh. Mango chutney and bitter oranges marmalade. Even a little peat in the aftertaste. Comments: I won’t go too high because of the touches of cardboard, but other than that, what a marvellous old Blair Athol again! SGP:652 - 89 points.

Check the index of all Blair Athol I've tasted so far