March 4, 2016

Blair Athol ex-light sherry

Not much to add, really. Except that I may go visit the distillery again around early May this year. So I’ll go to Edradour too, but why would you care, let’s move on…

Blair Athol 18 yo 1995/2014 (48.4%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, sherry butt, cask ref #DL10457, 681 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: rather refill, as the sherry influence is rather small, with hints of walnuts and just a handful of raisins. Other than that, I’m rather finding ripe apples, which isn’t uncommon in Blair Athol (and, agreed, elsewhere!) and a wee flintiness combined with some paraffin and plasticine. A touch of grassy leather too. Not a very fruity one, for sure. Mouth: good power, and more fruits this time. Apples again, especially green ones, or cider apples, plus a tart lemon, then rather buttered fudge and cakes. Shall I mention croissants? Tends to become a tad bitterly spicy. Green pepper, lemon and cinnamon mints… Finish: rather long, a little sharp, but some fudge coats the whole. Comments: a tad dichotomous, perhaps, between the sharp spicy greenness and this fudge. Not a lot of sherriness, but sure it’s worth it… SGP:461 - 83 points.

Would this one be more sherried?...

Blair Athol 26 yo 1989//2015 (48.9%, Cadenhead, sherry cask, 222 bottles)

This one was double-matured, so transferred to sherry seven years prior to bottling. Colour: deep gold. Nose: and that worked. Patchouli, pot-pourri (that hasn’t got anything ‘pourri’, which means rotten in French), a lot of pipe tobacco, a touch of mint, cherries, roasted pecans, old Bourgogne with their hints of understory, precious wood, Danish pastry… I’m finding this nose perfect, and very complex (this is become boring, Cadenhead!…) Mouth: we’re a notch closer to the DL, with this flinty, grassy side, but more dates and figs are making it rounder and a tad easier. Notes of old Madeira, then rather caraway and even sweet English mustard. Hints of old Fino sherry (long solera), and leather. Since we’re almost in Jerez, that would be horse saddles, naturally. Finish: rather long, with Seville oranges this time (but of course!) Perhaps a touch of bubblegum in the aftertaste. Comments: crikey! Another excellent one, although I liked the nose a little better. SGP:561 - 88 points.

Let’s try to find an old naked one… Perhaps this:

Blair Athol 1976/2004 (45%, Samaroli, sherry wood, cask #7310)

Ah, I had thought this wasn’t ex-sherry, because of the pale colour. My bad. I like Sig. Samaroli’s comments on the label, ‘Refined inside the bottle since this date’ (refers to the year of bottling). Mr. Samaroli, just like me, believes in bottle ageing! Colour: straw. Nose: very different, more austere, more mineral, with some camphor and some green apples, plus a rather lovely honeyness. Beeswax, pollen… Whiffs of ‘a new cigar box’. I remember I had tried this baby around when it was bottled, and indeed it may have improved after ten years of ageing in glass. BTW, the glass is very dark, so pretty much UV-proof in my opinion. Mouth: fun stuff, with a lot of limestone and a lot of lemon, plus a medicinal side that I wasn’t expecting from Blair Athol. Even iodine, also, well, I’d call it a little ‘bandage-y’. Finish: medium, rather on lemon zests, and more limestone. A little paraffin as well. Bitter walnuts in the aftertaste, perhaps from the sherry. Comments: an ode to bottle ageing. Twenty more years and it’ll reach 90 points in my book (stay tuned). SGP:452 - 85 points.

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