Stop number 105 on the SDT is Blair Athol. A Diageo owned Highland distillery that is primarily used in Bell’s blends. This 12 year old from the Flora and Fauna series is one of the only single malt bottlings available. Bottled at 43% ABV and is chill filtered with colorant added making it a dark amber color. The nose has strong sherry and sherried fruits. Raisins, figs, dates, berries and plums. Some artificial grape and root beer notes that come and go. Honey, vanilla, syrupy sweet at times. Musty/damp oak, slightly minty, anise and licorice with a touch of maple. Salted chocolate and hazelnut, basically Nutella. Tobacco, a bit of cough syrup, pie crust and something odd, like the inside of a brand new shoe, good though. The palate has a strong but welcoming tobacco note, followed by a little spicy oak and semisweet sherry. Chocolate, toffee, vanilla, licorice. Ginger notes, herbal and some oranges oil. Plenty of raisins and dates as well. A medium light bodied mouthfeel that is oily and mouthwatering at first, but turn dry. The finish is medium length with darker sherry notes, tobacco, vanilla, licorice, raisins and turns slightly bitter towards the end. Not bad, but not great either. The sherry notes just seemed a little too dark, as if it were over cooked, if that was a thing with sherry. I’d rather stick with Tamdhu or Macallan if I wanted a sherried whisky. At $55 it’s not a bad option though. 3.25-3.5 Cheers