Blair Athol Distillery, Thursday, April 25th 2024. Whisky #2 Nose: The nose is quite shy, which is unusual for Blair Athol at this strength. The aromas mainly encompass red fruits, vanilla and citrus. Palate: Sweet arrival with cherry, plum and cranberry. There is some vanilla and quite a lot of porridge-like cereal and fresh oak in the development. Both types of barrels used for maturation (see below) must have been quite active. There is a little spice but it’s a demure palate, however there is a satisfying oilyness to the texture. Finish: Medium/Short. Caramel, milk chocolate and cereal. Released in 2023, this is the second NAS Distillery Exclusive available from Blair Athol (Batch 1 was released in 2017). It was matured in a combination of heavily charred American oak barrels and French wine barriques of unspecified provenance. I’d take a guess that this is a vatting of whiskies ranging from 8-12 years old. It’s is a very crisp malt centered squarely on cereal and wood characteristics. You could call it an “honest” malt even though it is highly cask driven. It’s unusual for a Blair Athol and I liked it, but I also felt that although not underpowered it was nevertheless oddly laid back and needed more presence. Tasted at the distillery. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)