icsteel154
Bladnoch 11 Year Old (2020 Release)
Single Malt — Lowland, Scotland
Reviewed
May 14, 2022 (edited July 28, 2022)
Nose: Ammonia, cat pee, floral, grassy, lemon urinal cake
Palate: Floral, heather honey, apple, cocoa nibs, pear, dark chocolate, barley
Finish: Medium short finish. Sweet, chocolate, poached pear, floral and peppery
The smell is a little off putting - ammonia and citrus - but this dram comes into its own on the palate and finish. Doesn't blow you away, but it is a decent dram. I'd consider this a session dram, it improves as it sits in the glass for a while dampening the pretty awful nose.
62.95
GBP
per
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@icsteel154 I've just posted a review of the 2021 bottling and it bears a similarity to your notes. There is not the ammonia presence you mention but a lot of unusual peppery, grassy aromas and tastes. I think I'm about done with Bladoch for a while, except for event and festival tastings. I don't really subscribe to the concept of regions in scotch whisky, and there is no reason why Bladnoch should be called one apart from geographic location, but I have to admit - it has a "lowland" character.
@cascode I’m waiting on delivery of an “embers cask” that was exclusive to the Whisky Club, I am hoping it lives up to the build up pushed for it…
@cascode Short answer - no. I’ve had a couple of decidedly OK OB drams from Bladnoch since their reopening. There are some decent older and indie bottlings but they are all silly prices now (I’m specifically thinking of the Bladnoch 26 Year Old 1990 from Adelphi which was very good indeed, but crazy pricing). I’ve not been massively impressed by any of the post reopening OB releases.
Is there a Bladnoch you'd recommend? I've been sidestepping it for a while after tasting their particularly dreadful blended scotch a while back, but I keep hearing positive things.