Tasting 6 Bladnochs

Bladnoch is a dangerous whisky, easy to drink, and often just that vague that I get the feeling I need another taste just to make sure I've traced all the characters I can within the whisky. Here goes a series of 6 whiskies from 6 different bottlers, should cover most of Bladnoch's characteristics, and possibly then some.



Bladnoch 1991 50% James MacArthur's

Pale white wine color. Usually these bottles from James MacArthur's are bottles at cask strength or 43%abv (in rare cases). I commend J.McA for that policy, so I wonder why they decided to bottle this at 50%abv. It smells lemon, apples, tamarind, sour and fruity. Not much more on the nose. The taste is burnt, earthy, orange zest, tamarind again, cardboard, onions, a bit "dirty". With some added water it turns sweeter, more peppery, sweet korma, fried bell peppers. A lot more going on now. I'd say its more of an adventure when diluted, more astray from the beaten lowland path.

Easy to enjoy, easy to forget, light: 4


Bladnoch 22yo 50% Old Malt Cask Douglas Laing

Light golden hueon this one from Douglas Laing. I usually enjoy Bladnoch but often find when tasting the distilleries thats been down for a while, Glen Keith, Glenglassaugh, Tamnavulin and such, some bottlings also helps show maybe why they closed down. Remember, the recent bottlings may derive a lot compared to what the distillery made back in the old days. This one smells of leather and tobacco, dried fruits, honey, very pleasant. The taste is rich, spicy, chillies, straw, sour grapes, ginger, starfruit, aniseeds, lime, basil leaves, carrot juice. A long stretch from the pleasant nose, still nice, but no coherence between nose and palate. With a dash of water it turns more peppery and honeyed, still sour with ginger notes. Again it improves a bit, not much, with water.

The nose alone brings this one up a notch: 5


Bladnoch 22yo 1990-2012 54.4% Malts of Scotland cask#12019

Another 22yo, another bourbon cask, but this time bottled at cask strength. Should usually make a difference. This one is from a barrel which is bigger than a hogshead. More time, less oaky notes usually. The color is golden. It smells peppery, honeyed, floral, elderflowers, syrup, distinct moscatel wine, shallots, nutty, perfumy, butter cream, enticing. The taste is heather, peppery, warming, coal, wool, rose pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, gentle and warming, a peculiar mix.

One to have alongside your cheese platter: 4.5


Bladnoch 15yo 55% OB

Bladnoch was not only a distillery for a while, but also an independent bottler with the Bladnoch Forum-series. It's been awhile since I saw any bottlings from them, but I hope their still in business. This one is from the "Spirit of the Lowlands"-series. I think Bladnoch did a smart move when naming a whisky so that it emphasizes on a whole region. Light golden hue. It smells thick, fresh bakery, oily, olive oil, cauliflower, fish oil, ginger, chutney, laurels, carrot juice, tomato sauce, kinda bland. The taste is creamy, toffee, herbal, parsley, majorian, leeks, basil, light toffee, camphor, cough drops.

This one is the be(a)st of the bunch so far: 6


Bladnoch 11yo 1985-1996 56.8% Gordon & Macphail Cask cask#318,352,870,871

This one has the most color of the bunch, light orange/amber. It smells peppery, licorice, onions, campari, very bitter. I hope it tastes better. Bitter odors sometimes makes for great palates, Bowmore being one example of that in my opinion. The taste is very drying, fino? Bitter and drying, some stewed onions and grind coffee alongside nutmegin the finish. Besides some nice hints of garlic and nutmeg initially, this one is a letdown for me.

An extreme whisky, extremely bitter that is: 3.5


Bladnoch 13yo 1987-2000 59.3% Scott's Selection

I've had quite a few from SS, and with a couple more yet to be tasted. I like these smaller indies as they have nothing more than their quality to rely on. Whereas G&M, Cadenhead's and S/V are such well-established brands with a huge enough output that they can afford bottling a bad cask or two every now and again. Pale white wine color on this oneIt smells light, kirsch, strawberries, onions, wheat, spirity, new-make, a bit "un-finished" in my opinion. The taste is earthy, oak, smoky, nessel soup, grassy, ginger, straw, leather, dry. A lot of so-called un-desired notes going on here, but its still very good. With additional water it turns more bitter, with a tonic water taste.

A dirty, foul and almost rancid whisky that's too raw to dislike: 6



Next tasting: Fettercairn Distillery



Oh, and this was my 300th post on www.maltdiary.com, I think it was a nice way to celebrate that. Next time my favorite distillery.