The House of MacDuff Bladnoch Tasting Notes

The House of MacDuff ‘Golden Cask’ Bladnoch 1988 (15 year old) 56.4%

Bourbon Cask 2644/ Dist: 1988 Btl: 2003/ Tasted: July 2006

John has selected a rather fantastic cask from Raymond Armstrong. Floral and delicate with a depth of citrus – orange, lemon and lime fruit with a hint of Bourbon. Smooth, fruity and earthy with a delightful soft creaminess. Water emphasises the oak and brings out straw, perfume, oriental spice, white peach notes. Superb complexity with a nice cereal sweetness overall.

The House of MacDuff ‘Golden Cask’ Bladnoch 1988 (17 year old) 56.8%

Bourbon Cask/ Dist: 1988 Btl: 2005/ Tasted June 2006

Clean and crisp with a pronounced aromas of grassy/ earthy apricot, orange, lemon and lime fruit with lashings of delicious creamy oak. Dry, medium bodied, quite weighty for a Lowland. Smooth, creamy and fruity with a grassy/ earthy note. Very long with a soft creaminess and a hint of spice.

A touch of water makes the palate stunning, emphasising the oak and bringing out straw, perfumed oriental spice and white peach notes.

Single Malts Direct Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Single Malts Direct ‘Whiskies of Scotland’ Bladnoch 1991 (26 year old) 47.1%

Dist: 1991 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Oct 2017

The nose is chunky and toffee’d with caramel shortbread and dried fruit. In short it’s an oak overload!

The palate is a little fresher than the nose but again all sherried dried fruit and spice. Short and spicy with lingering dried fruit. In conclusion: The oak has overwhelmed the spirit and it feels like it has been re-racked into a younger cask.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 50.92 1990 (26 year old) ‘Sipping sherry in the potting shed’ 53.1%

First Fill Charred ex-red wine Hogshead

Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Oct 2017

Dusty, mature, Armagnac-esque dried fruit on the nose, along with hints of barley, citrus and dried grape. Herbal Oloroso notes with time.

The palate opens with plenty of sherrywood tannins along with dried fruit and liquorice. No surprise that it begins to bitter hard on the middle. The finish is intense and very bitter, but quite spicy. Lingering old Marc-like notes. In conclusion: No sweetness to balance the bittering old oak.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 50.93 1990 (26 year old) ‘Hansel and gretal at the savoy  53.6%

Refill Bourbon

Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Oct 2017

The nose takes awhile to open, but eventually shows fragrant barley, macerated apricot and orange along with straw and toffee’d oak. Water makes it old and oily.

The palate is surprisingly dull. Old, straw-like with a touch of barley and oak. Water brings out a lanolin note. Alcoholic with a touch of macerated fruit and toffee on the finish. In conclusion: Old whiskies with this level of alcohol often fall apart with water…… and this did!

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 50.96 1990 (27 year old) ‘A day trip to heaven’ 53.7%

Refill Bourbon Barrel

Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2018

The nose is fesh and citric with mature oak, straw and hints of apricot, honey and lime. It becomes quite minerally and Highland-esque with time.

Light, fresh and mineral on the palate with white fruit, honey and mature oak. The honey comes through magnificently on the middle but is balanced by lemon and lime notes. Long and citric with a mouth-watering minerality. Lingering lime, barley and straw

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 50.99 1990 (27 year old ‘Sheer perfection’ 52.8%

Second Fill Bourbon Barrel

Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2018

A lightly balsamic nose with hints of malt, treacle, rose petal, camomile and vanilla. Lovely, mature, dusty oak and late hints of greengage, lime and creamy oak.

Mature oak and subtly oxidised fruit on the palate. Hints of barley, rose petal, coffee, malt, ginger and cinnamon. Good progression of flavours. Long and spicy with returning mature oak, rose peal and a peppery after-taste.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society 50.101 1990 (27 year old) ‘Tantric meditation’ 53.7%

Refill Bourbon Barrel/ Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: 2018/ Tasted: Nov 2018

A nose of mature, dusty oak with pepper, barley and apricot. Wonderfully fragrant and deep with hints of ginger and vanilla.

The palate is deep and luscious with mature apricot, dusty oak, rose petal and gingery spices. Wonderfully juicy and succulent with spices adding just the right amount of bite. Long and very spicy with ginger, cinnamon and black pepper but balanced by vanilla and aromatic barley.

North Star Spirits Bladnoch Tasting Notes

North Star Spirits Bladnoch 1990 (28 year old) 51.1%

Bourbon Barrel/ Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: Sept 2018/ Tasted: Sept 2018

It has quite a fresh nose for its age with granulated sugar sprinkled apple, pear and apricot. Slightly grassy, dried grass and dry, dusty barley. The oak is quite subtle but supports and with time a subtle earthiness appears.

The palate is quite fresh and vibrant with lemon, apple, barley, pear and subtle vanilla oak. Excellent balance with the sugars appearing on the middle, along with a touch of brandy butter and light coffee’d tannins. Good, clean finish with dried grass, marzipan and gently oxidised fruit. That’s a lovely old Bladnoch.

Duncan Taylor Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Duncan Taylor The Octaves Bladnoch 1990 (25 year old) 50.2%

Cask 8712254/ Dist: 1990 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Oct 2017

The nose is earthy, plumy eaux-de-vie with a slightly rough, but natural edge. Malty/ beery overtones and no shortage of Oloroso character.

Mellow, mature Oloroso dried fruit on the palate. Sweeter and not as rough as the nose suggests. Lightly dusty middle with a touch of sweet vanilla. Long and juicy with lingering oxidised fruit, vanilla, dark chocolate and herbal eaux-de-vie. In conclusion: Old and sherried. Fine if you like that sort of thing.

Carn Mor Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Carn Mor Celebration of the Cask Bladnoch 1990 (23 year old) 57%

Bourbon Cask 3008/ Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: Feb 2013/ Tasted: Mar 2015

Aromas of dusty, mature, seeped apricot and straw with a touch of fragrant barley along with a herbal, rye-like note. The aromas darken with time as some herbal accented coffee and malt appears.

The palate opens with a touch of toffee as the oak shows more than it does on the nose. Hints of straw, apricot and some light tannins follow. Juicy honey and citrus come through on the middle adding a freshness. Lovely, mature straw-like, lightly floral (hyacinth and orange blossom) finish with the alcohol adding a piquant edge to the spices. Exits with just a touch of herbal marc and dried reeds

Mackillop’s Choice Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Mackillops Choice Bladnoch 1991 (23 year old?) 45.7%

Bourbon Cask 3004603/ Tasted: May 2014

The nose is quite honeyed and barley’d for a Bladnoch. Dusty barley and oak mingle with lime, straw and a touch of castor sugar- lovely sweet/ sour balance. Hints of fragrant apple, apricot, white fruit and dusty, sweet spice emerge. With time the mature oak comes through and the gorgeous honeyed aromas develop. Wow! Stunning stuff, and very mature Spey-like.

The palate opens with silky lime conserve, dusty barley, straw, pollen and globs of luscious, thick honey. Still quite grassy with apricot, apple and lightly oiled white fruit. Delicate, yet robust with a long castor sugar coated fruit finish. The wonderfully mature American oak finally comes through on the finish bringing with it some sweet spice notes.

Hunter Laing Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Bladnoch 1992 (20 year old) 50%

Refill Sherry (?)/ Code: OMC2240/ Dist: Nov 1992 Btl: Apr 2013/ Tasted: May 2013

An earthy nose of dark honey and malt along with plenty of baked apple and dried fruit. A lovely nose with the oak becoming slightly sawdusty and reminds me of an old Glen Grant. Lightly cinnamon dusted with a light perfumed/ floral note emerging along with a slight menthol note.

The palate is full with oodles of earthy honey and hints of dunnage but surprisingly sulphur blemished. There was no indication of that on the nose! Quite meaty with some balsamic dark macerated fruit and an almost metallic finish. It’s a shame as the nose was rather good.

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Bladnoch 1992 (21 year old) 50%

Bourbon/

Code: OMC2381/ HL10418

Dist: Nov 1992 Btl: June 2014/ Tasted: July 2014

An intensly fresh and very lemony nose with hints of fragrant rose and apricot. Hints of honey and grass with a little mature oak. Very pleasantly mature but still retaining freshness and vitality.

The palate shows more oak with butter and crème caramel. The spirit is a little swamped to be honest. A touch of citrus does come through on the middle along with a light grassy note but the oak bitters the finish a little. Still relatively pleasant with a light rose oil after-taste.

Douglas Laing Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask Bladnoch 1992 (18 year old) 50%

Sherry Finished/ Code: OMC2042/ DL7162

Dist Nov 1992 Btl: Oct 2011/ Tasted: Oct 2011

The Brownie of Bladnoch returns! (see distillery bottlings for details) Slightly earthy with hints of damp cardboard and a distinct murky character. Some late butter and sherry spice notes appear but it’s rough, spirity and distinctly unclean.

The palate is pleasantly spicy but it’s so murky and industrial with burnt caramel and a touch of cardboard. Invasively alcoholic and lacking in finesse and length, well no that’s not quite true it does have a finish of sorts and that was fizzy. Shall we say it’s not the greatest cask of Bladnoch I’ve ever tasted.

Private Cellar Bladnoch Tasting Notes

Speyside Distillery Private Cellar Bladnoch 14 year old 43%

Bourbon Cask/ Tasted: Sept 2008

A lovely deep and fruity nose with oodles of orange, liquorice, butter, dried grass and earth. Wonderfully fragrant, good intensity, balanced by a lovely freshness. The palate: Soft and fruity with delightful orange and apricot fruit, topped off with a touch of vanilla and grass. Like the nose it has a wonderful intensity and freshness. Intense and spicy with hints of white liquorice and a gorgeous sherberty finish. Yum!