Not too long ago the future of Bladnoch was not looking too great. The previous owners were liquidating the distillery and no one seemed to be buying it. Of course even before all that it had been closed by United Distilleres (now known as Diageo) in the 1980’s (exact time of closure is a bit hazy due to gradual process). It was then sold to Raymond Armstrong, an Irish businessman, in 1994. Despite the terms of the sale saying that the distillery was not to distill again, Raymond got the approval of United Distillers to go ahead and reopen Bladnoch. It took a while to get things up and running but finally in the year 2000 the stills at Bladnoch started producing spirit once more. However, production seemed to be limited and eventually in 2014 the distillery was put up for sale. Due to the lack of distilling in the latter years and the lack of serious buyers, some people considered Bladnoch to be a closed distillery (ahem SMWS). However, as a big Bladnoch fan I insisted that it would not perish and low and behold it was pruchased in 2015 by David Prior, an Australian businessman. It is rumoured, however, that the first new bottlings will be made available in Australia only. Favouritism perhaps?

Anyway, no more worries about not having enough Bladnoch to drink. Seems like they still command a high price at SMWS. Probably because of how hard it is to find any Bladnoch whisky right now. Well I’ll take what I can get I guess. Still missing that SMWS 50.53 Monster Mango and Melon!

Bottler: SMWS

Distillery: Bladnoch

SMWS Code: 50.71

Age: 25 Years

Cask: Refill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

ABV: 58.2%

Distill Date: 26 January 1990

Outturn: November 2015

Bottle Numbers: 165

Price: £137.50

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Nose

Creamy buttery amaretto. Rich caramel toffee Scottish fudge.

Taste

Bright springy fruitiness with a bit of a kick. Velvety cream like white chocolate. Like champagne flavoured white chocolate. Has that white wine tartness and sweetness.

Finish

Refreshing bright sweetness and fresh oak spiciness.

Rating

8

Afterthoughts
Another winner from Bladnoch, this one has loads of fruitiness and spice. Only issue is that it is lacking in other flavours but if all you want is fruit and spice, I think you’ll be quite happy with this one.