Cask strength old Bladnoch? Yes please! I am always on a lookout for an SMWS bottling of Bladnoch. Or any Bladnoch for that matter. Interesting thing about this outturn is that on the menu there is a “Closed Distillery” stamp on the description for this bottling. This is interesting for several reasons. First of all, I guess SMWS are pushing to incite the current whisky frenzy for closed distilleries. Secondly, Bladnoch is down right now due to issues with the ownership but calling it a closed distillery right now is a bit too soon and sounds like a joke in poor taste. C’mon guys! It’s just down on its luck! Don’t kick it while it’s down. In all seriousness, I hope Bladnoch gets back on its feet because there isn’t much Bladnoch whisky out there as it is and I don’t want to fight in a post apocalyptic whisky world for the last remaining bottles of this elixir.

Moniker: Tutti Frutti

Distillery: Bladnoch

Age: 25 years old

Cask: Refill Bourbon

ABV: 52.5%

Distill Date: 26th January 1990

Outturn: July 2015

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TheMadVatter

Nose

Green melons. Green grapes. Grape Hi-Chew gum. Juicy fruit chewing gum. Berry bowl. Lots of fruit.

Taste

Sweet fruity syrup that becomes very spicy with a numbing heat. Almost like tiger balm in sensation but not flavour. In the middle there is a licorice twist that transitions from the fruity sweetness to the spicy heat. A crispness at the beginning like fresh cardboard. Like opening a package for Christmas.

Finish

Light fruit bowl with whipped cream. With like oak tannins. Strawberries and blueberries and sweet mochi frozen yogurt from Pinkberry.

Rating

8.5

Afterthoughts

Well I should preface this by saying that I am a huge fan of Bladnoch. For me Bladnoch has this amazing fruity, sweet, spicy quality which really just hits all the right notes. If you are not a fan of Bladnoch then all my words of praise will probably sound like mad ranting to you. So yeah, I am biased. I liked this one. When the SMWS staff first poured this for me it came off as a bit harsh and displeasing. But after letting it aerate a bit, I began to peel into the different layers of sweetness. All that fruity goodness and spice! To be honest, ever since trying the SMWS 50.53 Monster Mango and Melon, I’ve been trying to find something similar. From the SMWS description of this one I thought I had found just the one, but it’s not quite the same. This started off being a little pungent but then really grew on me. AliceInWhiskyland was not convinced and declared it unfit for her palette. So I guess this is a bit of a controversial dram. If you happen to try this one I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.