The third of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. This is from Blair Athol, one of the quasi-anonymous Diageo distilleries whose output is used for various blends - in this case, Wikipedia says it's primarily Bell's. The distillery dates to 1798, and was closed form 1932 to 1949 - then it expanded in 1973.
Here are the official notes:
The nose combines tinned mandarins and rhubarb wine with the sweetness of fudge, golden syrup and assorted chocolates; hints of wood sap and a laurel hedge in flower. The palate has great mouth-coating textures, sweet notes of chocolate-coated hazelnuts and pecan pie – slowly evolving a lingering finish of shaved pine, herbal boiled sweets, chilli and horseradish. The reduced nose goes from Crunchie bars and lingonberry jam to willow catkins and gooseberry bushes, then to cinnamon buns. The palate now seems sweeter – toffee apples, butterscotch, brown sugar and runny honey – finishing with St Germain liqueur, pine wood, ginger, juniper and liquorice root.
Hard to argue with these flavors on paper! Only one way to really find out. Matured a dozen years in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead, and bottled at 58.3% ABV. Here we go:
Nose: Wow this is nice on the nose: sweet butter, grass, hay give way to vanilla fudge, golden syrup, chocolate on top of chocolate. Incredibly sweet, but with an herbal undercurrent that cuts the sweetness nicely.
Letting it sit, and with a splash of water: creme brulee covered in hazelnuts. Custard. A distinct complex earthy forest note, like you get with Edradour... like moss or bark. And citrus notes.
Halfway through the bottle, a couple new notes drift in: malted barley, and a sugary grape note concentrated in a candy-centric way: grape Nerds candy (!). Not kidding - perhaps grape Jolly Ranchers is a more universally understood simile. Still very sweet, but in a slightly different way. Still somewhat herbal.
Mouthfeel: Resinous, on the thicker side.
Palate: Chocolate, very strong hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, toffee, custard, cinnamon, brown sugar, honey, ginger. Very very rich and sweet. An ideal dessert dram. With a splash of water, the sweetness is cut a little bit and you get stronger notes of wood and especially petrichor - that "fresh rain" thing. Also with water, the palate focuses a bit onto specific notes of juniper and licorice, as the official tasting notes suggest.
Finish: Medium length, drying with notes of juniper and anise and oak. A good counterpoint to the all the sweetness that came before.
Verdict: A wonderful whisky. Full of flavor from top to bottom - so sweet, but with very well executed counter-notes like rain, anise, oak, butter. Quite good. Everyone I talked to at the tasting agreed that this was highly recommended.
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