Bladnoch 21 Year

Red fruit like plums, banana, sweet, slight smoke on end

Note: This review is for the independently bottled Bladnoch 26 year old from That Boutique-y Whisky Co The nose opens with orchard fruits, honey, vanilla and sweet bourbon. Let it sit a bit longer and confectionary sugar and malt works it’s way in to the mix. It really begins to bloom and becomes fuller given time. Vanilla cream, dried grass/hay, honeydew. A lightweight nose. These aromas (for me) evokes images of warm spring day in a grassy field. Arrives with a tingle on the tongue in a medium-light body. A fruity and sweet palate that delivers caramel apples, pineapples, coconut, melons, marshmallows. Like the nose, this benefits immensely with time and becomes sweeter and softer. There is a bit of lemon zest and fresh ginger which provides a gentle spicy zing at the finish. Caramel faintly brings as it draws to a close. Drying oak brings this to the end eliminating or dominating the closing flavors. A bright, fruity dram with complimentary sweetness. Very akin to it’s nearby Irish mates in terms of sweetness, fruitiness and mouthfeel. Perfect almost as a cordial, closing out a rich meal or a spicy medium-bodied cigar. The cost though and the lack of exposure (at least near me) is prohibitive. All said, thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample and providing me the opportunity to sample. [88/100][Tasted: 4/8/18]

** This review is for the independently bottled Bladnoch 26 year old from That Boutique-y Whisky Co and not the listed entry. I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus these last few weeks. I think the blistering cold weather and holiday stress has lead to some palate fatigue on my part so I involuntarily decided to take a “semi-dry January”. I’m still trying to drink my way through our distillery group samples and I’m down to this one and I believe I have one more. This is an independent bottling from That Boutique-y Whisky Company and was generously suppplied by my friend Pranay. I think it was from a single cask and comes in at a cask strength of 47.8%. Pretty nice for such a well aged whisky. The nose starts out with a lot of typical bourbon barrel notes: vanilla, sugary honey and oak but then your normal Lowland style malt fragrances appear as well: light orchard fruit, grass and light perfume. This one really gained complexity on the nose with time. Nothing really overpowering as they all swirled around the glass like your were inhaling this in a gentle breeze. Very nice. The palate was full of tropical fruits like mango and coconut and ripe, red berries and was incredibly smooth. Those Lowland perfume notes ushered in the ex-bourbon cask astringencies towards the back end just in time to keep you from developing a cavity from all the sugary aspects. This really was a delightful whisky. The finish was medium length with mostly peppery spice and a bit of a drying effect that was just slightly out of place IMO. I think I wanted a bit more of a juicy finish on this one and that keeps this from being a near perfect dram. Overall, this is one of the best Lowland whiskies I think I’ve had the privilege of experiencing. I don’t recall what Pranay had to spend on this bottle, but I’d say it is well worth it. A truly wonderful dram that just tickles all the right notes. If you can still get your hands on a bottle I highly recommend this one. Thanks again, Pranay. 4.25-4.5 stars. Cheers.

Very smooth, peppery finish

Disclaimer: This is for the 26 year old by That Boutique-y Whisky Company. The nose brings both sweet and floral notes of honeysuckle, freshly cut grass and light fruit. The palate brings a picnic of honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, and corn syrup. The finish is a nice medium mouth coat of mint, white pepper, a little salt, and lavender. This is quite a tasty dram and the theme of it will be “Flight of the Bumblebee”. A solid 4.0. Thanks so much for the sample Pranay!!

This is for the Boutique-y Whisky Company Bladnoch 26 yr old. So the first time I had this, I didn't like it much. I had it while pouring out samples for round 4 as part of our tasting team. I thought it tasted bitter and too farmy, not what I'd expect from a Lowlander. But then I heeded Paul's advice below and gave it a second chance. It not only helped airing it out, but the reduced amount in the bottle probably already started some oxidation. A hidden little gem; I've had products from That Boutique-y Whisky Company before, and generally found them well made, but never even heard of Bladnoch. Sounds like something the cat threw up. Fortunately taste much better. Tropical fruits, sort of like a well aged Irish single malt. Coyingling simple in being fruit forward, but loaded with fruits...mangoes, passion fruit, coconut. All sorts of exotic fruits. Finish is short, but you get an interesting pink peppercorn taste---slightly spicy, but not as much as black pepper, and not as grassy as green peppercorns...more floral spicy. I got it for about $150 for 500ml...so that translates to $225 for a regular bottle. Personally I'd much rather pay for a smaller bottle at a lower equivalent price, just because I can't finish a full bottle. I'd rather not spend the extra $75 then waste it in totality. So was it worth it? For me...yes, given a lower price and a smaller bottle.

Disclaimer: this review is for the 26 year old version from independent bottlers That Boutique-y Whisky Company Starting up the old Scottish Distillery Tour again after a couple of weeks off between rounds. Stop number 49 is Bladnoch. A Lowland distillery with apparently very few official bottlings. This offering comes by way of the independent bottlers over at That Boutique-y Whisky Co. A single ex-bourbon cask matured for 26 years and bottled at 47.8% ABV, natural color of yellow gold and non chill filtered. The sample I have is from a 500mL bottle that was one of only 165. The nose starts off with heavy honey, cereal malt and dried grass. A fairly strong oaky character with vanilla and caramel. Lightly nutty with a kind of baked whitefish feel to it. The honey and malt keep coming back around and dominate the nose for a while. Quite floral with some fruits becoming more and more prominent. Melon, peach pits, green grapes, yellow apples. It moves into some tropical type fruits like mango, but that is not as obvious as the others. After more time I get brown sugar, toffee and buttercream. This is a whisky that benefits from patience. A huge arrival on the palate, not at all what I was expecting from the nose. Luscious fruits and lots of them. Apples, pears, berries, melons, mango, coconut, passion fruit and maybe some papaya. Really great so far. It does come around to more closely resemble the nose after a while with vanilla, some pepper, floral honey and malted barley. If you sip and swallow without letting it linger in your mouth there are strong bourbon notes. Then more and more. Some slightly perfume type notes as well. Nice A medium-full mouthfeel that is oily and mouthwatering. The finish is short to medium short, very fruity with honey and vanilla. This is an excellent independent bottling. It took some time to open up and reveals its true character, but it was well worth it. The nose does not prepare you for the palate and I love getting surprised like that (as long as it’s for the better). I was very surprised that all those wonderful fruity flavors came out of an ex-bourbon cask filled with a Lowland new make spirit. The finish could have been longer, but overall I’m impressed. As far as value goes it’s hard to justify $150 for a 500mL bottle, but it’s not that bad considering the age. I give this a 4.25 and a big thanks to tour member @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample. Cheers