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| Hello, that is one in all our (nearly) every day tastings. Santé! |
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April 28, 2022
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I am glad we’re seeing extra Blair Athol as of late. Blair Athol has not at all times solely been about Bell’s, has it… Keep in mind it is even been a part of UD’s Basic Malts for a really brief whereas.
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Blair Athol 12 yo 2008/2021 (56.7%, Isman Taichung, hogshead, cask #309320, 266 bottles) 
One other little line for Taiwan, the place our pals appear to be extraordinarily busy. Beautiful label, by the way in which. Color: white wine. Nostril: simply tough dough, chalk, grist and that overripe apple + mild meadow honey mixture. Somewhat vanilla for good measure. With water: your head underneath a distillery mill. Big barley and a tiny contact of candle wax. Mouth (neat): some very tremendous barley eau-de-vie, with notes of kirschwasser and white rhum agricole ‘straight from the column’. That might have been a Creole column, naturally. With water: extra complicated this time, principally grassier, a tad acetic in a great way, with some pear peel as properly. Malt whisky integrally al pure, with no wine and little or no wooden in the way in which. End: lengthy and chalkier once more. Some curious touches of high-ester rum this time. Grand Arôme – like. Feedback: retailer for twenty years and presto, a winner. Properly that is not that ‘presto’, is it.
SGP:551 – 87 factors. |
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Blair Athol 12 yo 2009/2022 (52.5%, Chapter 7, bourbon hogshead, cask #301068, 299 bottles)
Love these no compromise labels too, they scream ‘it is in regards to the content material’. Or music over plumage… Color: straw. Nostril: comparable, only a tad extra on vanilla and polish, as steered by the darker color. Danishes, preserved apricots, melon liqueur, all that over chalk and grist. With water: a fragile earthiness, some roots, ginseng… Mouth (neat): glorious, sweeter and fruitier. Candy IPA, pink grapefruits and Timut pepper, peaches and apricots, touches of coconut… The chalky and gristy aspect is a bit buried now. With water: similar strikes as on the nostril, extra earth and roots. Turmeric, parsnips, some sweeter pink kuri squash, maybe… End: Feedback: instance of a cask that was merely extra lively. One other glorious one, I would want 5 litres of every to let you know which is my favorite. Higher not.
SGP:651 – 87 factors. |
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Blair Athol 12 yo 2009/2022 (52.5%, Chapter 7, refill pink wine cask, cask #306651, 258 bottles) 
Pink wine? Which nation? Area? Varietal? Classic? Oh in fact we’re joking, however let’s first test whether or not the color is pink or not… Color: not, it is simply ‘straw’. Phew. Nostril: only a notch grassier and tighter than its sister, with fairly much less ex-American candy and simple goodness. In a way, we’re nearer to the Taiwanese. With water: shuts the door. Stems, leaves, buds… Notes of peonies and nasturtium leaves. The cooks are utilizing that increasingly more of their meals, that is cool. Mouth (neat): kirsch and raspberry liqueur, oranges, grassy teas, greener spices… Was it European oak? With water: takes time to search out its means. I discover it comparatively grassy. End: medium, grassy, leafy. Melon pores and skin. Feedback: actually good however its sibling outshined it, in my humble opinion. I’ll have had to do that one first inside this session.
SGP:461 – 84 factors. |
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#4 and final will likely be a a lot older one…
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Blair Athol 31 yo 1989/2020 (52.4%, Spheric Spirits, refill bourbon hogshead, 228 bottles) 
This one straight from Leipzig, let’s examine if it may be a Bachfest. As a result of everybody loves Bach! Color: mild gold. Nostril: as anticipated, that is gentler, cakier, extra on biscuits, and extra on flowers as properly (ylang-ylang, which is fab), then apricots and ripe bananas, acacia honey, elderflowers… With water: some tarte tatin made with apricots as a substitute of apples. Mouth (neat): a fruity extravaganza, primarily on tropical ones, particularly guavas and bananas, plus varied honeys. Rather more complicated than this awful observe would counsel. Contact of violet (crystallised flowers). With water: a tad extra in direction of citrus, particularly correct clementines and orange jam (not marmalade). End: medium, fantastic, fairly recent and ‘tropical’. Honeyed aftertaste. Feedback: I do not know what Herr Kappelmeister would have stated, however I do say ‘spitzenklasse!’ Excellent fruits and really excessive drinkability index.
SGP:651 – 89 factors. |
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Bonus drop from the containers, or again to Taiwan…
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Blair Athol 18 yo 2000/2018 (58.6%, Archives, for Taiwan, hogshead, cask #57, 329 bottles)
Color: white wine. Nostril: again on chalk, varnish, sourdough, grass, fruit peel and even paraffin. That is one self-restrained Midlander, thus far! With water: a bit of saponification occurring, which would not go away that quick. Asparagus and leek, rubbed lemon pores and skin… Mouth (neat): little fruit drops, bubblegum, icing sugar, banana foam, limoncello… You see. May have been the very excessive power. With water: massive inexperienced citrus. Pomelos, grapefruits… And I maintain discovering a bit of asparagus. End: zesty/grassy and fairly lengthy. Paraffin and lemon pips within the aftertaste. Feedback: fairly a tricky boy, to be reckoned with! Onerous to attain, except you are not in favour of a bit of paraffin and gentle cleaning soap. Which isn’t my case.
SGP:561 – 84 factors. |
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Blair Athol ‘Resistance UA’ (50%, Ukrainian Whisky Followers Affiliation, 317 bottles, 2022)
An exquisite initiative by ‘not simply manufacturers’ with all earnings transferred to Ukrainian humanitarian associations. Please test whiskyua.com. They have been in Limburg, the place you can purchase these bottles; there’s additionally an Inchfad that is fairly, fairly good! Keep in mind performing some good when shopping for or consuming whisky is at all times feeling. Color: an apricotty tinge (nearly rosé wine, actually), so in all probability ex-Port or pink wine. Maybe even Ukrainian pink, you by no means know… Nostril: reasonably fragrant malts, resembling Blair Athol, are sometimes the most effective decisions in case your intention in life, as a whisky bottler, is to make use of pink wine. Properly, that is my opinion. Reasonably a number of rosehip tea, with whiffs of peonies and geranium flowers. All the time insist on ‘flowers’ as a result of leaves and stems fairly scent badly, in my view – properly, they’re recorded flaws in wine. Then strawberry cake, fruit bread, figs and panettone. With water: geared in direction of brioches, extra strawberry cake, grist and uncooked barley… The vinous touches are nearly gone, a bit of surprisingly. Mouth (neat): all cool, good, fruity and malty, with fairly much less vinosity than on the nostril. Raisin bread and cake, some cracked pepper, drop of ginger ale, numerous cloves, a bit of orange peel… With water: as soon as once more, it grew to become a straighter Blair Athol, with a wonderful maltiness. End: medium and actually well-balanced. Orange wine. Feedback: all powers to the Ukrainian Whisky Followers Affiliation and their nation. Unconditional respect!
SGP:651 – 87 factors (true rating, not a political one!) |
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One other good session with solely highish marks…
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