** 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.