Scotland, Lowlands: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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Bladnoch

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Bladnoch
Bladnoch Distillery
Bladnoch,
Wigtownshire DG8 9AB
+44 1988 402 605

Owner Raymond Armstrong
Creation date 1817

Website: http://www.bladnoch.co.uk/

Pictures and comments

Bladnoch, the most southern distillery of Scotland, was originally a farm created between 1814 and 1817 by the McClelland family. The family has been the owner of the distillery until 1871 when it was given up to the company T&A McClelland and Co who made some alterations in 1878.
The distillery has been closed often since 1930 and has been mothballed in 1993.
During the 40's, T&A McClelland became part of the Irish distiller Dunville & Co from Belfast. This company did not reopen the distillery, but sold it after World War II to Ross & Coulter who resold it to A.B. Grant who finally reopened the distillery under the name of Bladnoch Distillery Ltd in 1956.
A.B. Grant was taken over by Ian Fisher, shareholder of McGown & Cameron from Glasgow. The distillery has also belonged to Inver House Distillers Ltd between 1973 and 1983, before closing its doors again for 2 years. After this last closing, it has been acquired by Arthur Bell & Sons who modernised the distillery. The group became part of Guinness who acquired the D.C. L. group one year later to become the distillery branch called "United Distillers & Vintners".
UDV closed the distillery in 1993, together with Balmenach, Rosebank et Pittyvaich.
Raymond Armstrong, an Irish businessman acquired it on year later. A visitor centre and and an Internet site were opened in 1998, in the hope the distillery would reopen soon. This was the hope of lots of whisky lovers, as the malt coming from this Lowlands distillery is really outstanding.
This reopening happened in 2000.
However, the production is confidential at the moment, limited at about 100.000 litres a year.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

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 Bladnoch: official bottlings

Bladnoch
16 years
Sheep label


Age
16 years
Alcohol
55°
Particularity
Cask Strength
Bottler
Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Bladnoch 16 Sheep Label
COLOUR: Deep yellow.
NOSE : aromatic, firm, rich. Ripe fruits (apricot), citrus fruits. Flora (iris) Pepper, Butter toffee. Slightly medicinal (eucalyptus, balm).
Palate : smooth, oily. grassy, lemony. Fruits (apple, pear). White flowers, cut grass.
FINISH : lingering, liquorice. Hints of melon, red fruits rouges (raspberry, wood strawberry). Citrus. quince.
(la Maison du Whisky)
This is one of the first official bottlings since the new owner has taken over the distillery. It's a pity that the production of that distillery is so confidential, because many people will not be able to taste this very nice bottle.
The nose is rather fresh and perfumed. A great diversity of aromas, from the cut grass freshness to some medicinal hints. In the palate, the pleasure just goes on, and here also a very great diversity of tastes is present, from fresh ripe fruits to malt. A kind of light acidity also ,may be due to the percentage of alcohol, which is respectable. A very nice finish. In short, a wonderful bottle, typical of its birth area, the Lowlands.

The nose is rather fresh and marked by cut grass, citrus fruits and a hint of spices. In the palate, the taste is first quite fresh but develops quickly on clearly marked violet or liquorice touches. An exceptional finish, marked by both citrus fruits and liquorice.

The nose is finely perfumed with cut grass, mint and hay. A nice presence of pepper gives it a very nice dimension. The mouth is first bitter and slightly acid. Very complex, it develops quickly on pleasant liquorice notes while keeping a light nutty character. The finis keeps the memory of liquorice and is specially long and warm, mainly because of the high percentage of alcohol.
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Bladnoch
15 years
Sheep label


Age
15 years
Alcohol
55°
Particularity
Cask Strength
Bottler
Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Bladnoch sheep label 15
Clearly a fresh nose, so typical of the Lowlands whiskies. Hints of cut grass, ripe fruits (pear, melon). Both a great sweetness and a clear alcohol presence. In the palate, the same impression than during the nosing, with however some mentholated hints and a touch of woood in addition, which enhances the complexity of this nice malt. The finish is lingering, and all the nose and mouth impressions come back, from ripe fruit to menthol, through a discrete woody bitterness.
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Bladnoch
10 years
Fauna&Flora


Age
10 years
Alcohol
43°
Bottler
Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 Bladnoch 10 Fauna&Flora
 The colour is deep amber. The palate is fresh, sweet and frank. Is stays dry, with a hint of acid, without being bitter.
All fragrances are concentrated in the cent er of the palate. The finish evokes sandal wood and is of an average length.

The first impression is really pleasant, mix of fruits and cut grass. A Lowland with own character. The complexity of it evokes some Speyside whisky, while it keeps the freshness qualities, so representative of a Lowland malt. An excellent bottle I really recommend. Obviously, the Fauna & Flora collection is really remarkable, even if it is rather expensive.

The nose detects subtle flavours of ripe fruit on a malt background. The taste is close to sweet citrus fruits (orange) and gives an sensation of freshness and sweetness. The finish is rather short.

The nose is very smooth, with clear hints of ripe fruit. In the mouth, smootness dominates too, with a very nice complexity, going from malted barley and ripe pear to sweet citrus fruti. The finish si rather short and slightly bitter.
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Bladnoch
23 years
Rare Malts
1977-2001

Age
23 years
Alcohol
53.6°
Bottler
Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Bladnoch Rare malts 23
The nose is both floral and spiced, with a touch of smoke and quite a nice freshness. Some hay hints. In the palate, a kind of complexity. First slightly aggressive (due to the percentage of alcohol) with some acid and some bitter notes developing quickly on unripe nuts flavours and then on cereals. A nice palette of tastes. Lots of contrasts in the mouth. The finish is interesting, rather long and bitter. After a while woody notes and some more acid hints come back in the palate..
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 Bladnoch: independent bottlings
 

Bladnoch 1988 Signatory Vintage


Age
12 years
Alcohol
43°
Bottler
Signatory
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 The colour is gold with amber glints. The nose, vegetable is slightly fruited. The mouth evokes red fruit with precision.The finish is liquoriced and chocolaty at the same time.


(la Maison du Whisky)

The nose is rather discrete. The first palate impression recalls cut hay with some slight animal touches. After this, the mouth develops on liquorice and violet. A finish with an average length reveals clearly liquorice hints. An excellent bottle.

The rather discrete nose is very fresh, cut grass and fruits. A slightly acid touch over some very pronounced violet and liquorice tastes. The finish is not very long but pleasant, and the liquorice hints are still present.

A very beautiful nose with nice hints of dry hay and fruits. Some meaty hints too. Then some notes of liquorice wood appear. A bit of smoke on the background. A very pleasant impression in the palate, made from ripe fruits, a touch of violet and the freshness of cut grass. Spices too. The finish is rather long and very discrete hints of violet share the attention with fruit notes.
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Bladnoch 1988
Connoisseur's Choice


Age 13 years
Alcohol 43°
Bottler Gordon & McPhail
Price/litre =25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 Bladnoch 1988 Connoisseurs choice
 
The Lowland whiskies are not famous for their complexity, but this bottle is the exception to the rule. All the sweetness of a Lowland, with its hints of cut grass allied to the strength of a raced whisky leaves a delicious impression in the mouth for a while. The only trouble is the price of the bottle, but this is quite normal when the recent history of the distillery is kept in mind. A new example of the know-how of the independent bottler Gordon & McPhail.

During the second tasting, the complexity seemed to have disappeared, and the sweet honeyish character was dominant. The freshness of the first tasting was not there anymore. A kind of disappointment...
.
A rather floral nose with some discrete grass hints. The taste is somewhere between sweet and bitter, with a relative complexity. It does not really taste like a very great whisky. The finish is rather sweet.

The nose is marked by smells of malt and wax combined to hint of hay and other farmy smells covering light floral notes. In the palate, clear hints of lavender appear behind some rather neutral malty fragrances, leaving a kind of watery feeling in the mouth. The finish is relatively sweet, rather short and clearly marked by some violet hints.

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Bladnoch
1991
The Ultimate single malt collection


Age
11 years
Alcohol
43°
Cask
Bourbon
Bottler
The Ultimate Single Malt
=25 euros< 25 euros
 Bladnoch 1991
 
 The nose does not announce an exceptional malt. Some cut grass smell mixed to acid fruit (pears?) hints. The mouth does not deny this first impression. A clear lack of character and a malt with some warmth. A finish of average length and after all not unpleasant. It is some little malt unpretentious, but very nice, related to its price.

The nose is quite unpleasantly medicinal, kind of mixture of ether and pear alcohol. Not easy to recognize a whisky by nosing only... In the mouth, a some alcoholic aggressiveness with acid touches, but a however perceptible kind of fruity roundness is not able to do forget about the burning impression the beverage provokes. The question is how it is possible such a cask has been matured at the Bladnoch distillery. The finish is marked by the same alcohol impression, and is rather unpleasant too, with still this touch of acidity which remains much too long.

A fresh but rather flat nose. It reveals essentially fruit spirit notes. Just pear alcohol. The mouth is much similar. Ripe pears, no depth, even a bit sickly. The finish is not different. Not really interesting.

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Bladnoch
James McArthur Old Masters
Cask Strength 1992


Age
10 years
Alcohol
58,5°
Particularity
Cask Strength
Bottler
James McArthur
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 Bladnoch 1992
 The nose is fine with a hint of lemon and fresh grass.
The taste is fruity with some flower touches
A long finish.
 What a cruel deception. There are so many fine versions of Bladnoch, the whisky who reconciled me with Lowland malts. I expected to find in the cask strength version, all the pleasures of the cut grass smells, so characteristic for the whiskies from this region. Unfortunately the taste reminded me some very young white grain alcohol. The high alcohol percentage just adds a burn impression in the palate. This bottle is really to avoid...

The second tasting took place months later, and did not confirm the first one at all. On the contrary, the nose was pleasant, with the traditional fresh notes, characteristic of the Lowlands whiskies. The alcohol did not bother at all, and the whisky is rather pleasant. The finish was rather pleasant and long too... Is this mystery of the enormous difference between both tastings due to the fact the bottle was open since a while the second time? Oxidation phenomenon? Mystery....

The nose is fruity and slightly medicinal (ether) with some light hint of cut herb and announces a nice whisky. However, in the mouth the taste recalls more a pear alcohol than a whisky, and this alters the pleasure promise of the nose. A rather plain whisky, no surprise, even if the high degree of alcohol does not hinder at all. A quite long finish, still marked by ripe fruits (pear).
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Bladnoch
James Mc Arthur 10


Age
10 years
Alcohol
43°
Particularity
Non chill filtered
Bottler
James McArthur
=25 euros< 25 euros
 Bladnoch 10
 
 Unlike the cask strength version from the same bottler, this bottle has a certain charm. The nose reveals some indistinct hints of cut grass, and the first impression in the mouth is that of cut grass, so typical for malts from this area. A certain lack of complexity however, but this is rather normal for whiskies from the Lowlands. A pleasant finish, slightly sugared does not spoil the general impression.

The nose is rather acid and reveals clearly the smell of cut grass and citrus fruit (lemon). In the palate, a prominence of alcohol and a taste which recalls blank pear alcohol. A warm finish without nuances...
.
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Bladnoch
Signatory
Vintage 1980


Age
18 years
Alcohol
55,5°
Particularity
Cask Strength
Bottler
Signatory
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 Bladnoch Vintage 1980
 
 Is there something magic in the ageing or is it the quality of the bottlings of Signatory? This Cask Strength Bladnoch is really fantastic. All the sweetness of a Lowland associated to the power of a cask strength. At the first nosing, this bottle appears to be of a wonderful quality. The nose detects all the characteristic hints of malts from this area: cut grass etc.. and despite the high percentage of alcohol, the mouth is not hurt at all by alcohol burnings. A very long and pleasant finish. An excellent bottling, but not really cheap... One has to pay for quality....

The nose, revealing hints of ripe fruits on a background of cut grass, is very complex and rich in aromas. In the palate, the malt mixed to chocolate ant woody notes go on with a kind of aromatic firework one would like to have more often. A long and pleasant finish, going on on malt with an extraordinary depth.

The nose is really expressive, with nice fruity hints, somewhere between the green apple and the tangerine, on a bed of fresh cut grass. Nice complexity! In the palate, a slightly dominating woody touch, besides the fruity character, some chocolate, and a very nice smoothness. The whole is rather sweet despite the alcohol percentage. The finish is from the same nature of the palate, very complex with a pleasant woody dominance. A great bottle.

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Bladnoch: samples

Bladnoch 1990
John McDougall Selection

Age
16 years
Bottler
John McDougall
Alcohol
54.2°
Price/litre
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
A very fresh nose, mixing smells of cut grass, hay and mint. A kind of duff smell seems to hang over this whisky, which enhances the nosing pleasure.
The mouth is first very close to pear alcohol and it develops later on some more bitter notes, without however considerably enhance the taste palette. The nose was really promising but the mouth is a bit disappointing.
The finish is warm and relatively long and fruity hints remain discretely present.Not this spectacular finish some Bladnoch bottles offer us...
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Bladnoch 1989
Cadenhead

Age
18 years
Bottler
Cadenhead
Alcohol
47,8°
The first nose is clearly marked by cut grass but is quickly covered by wax notes and hints of yeast. It seems to lose parts of its original freshness after a few minutes in the glass. he general impression remains good however, with even a touch of smoke on the background.
The mouth is dry and reveals first some pear alcohol aspects before developing on bitterer notes. Nice fruity taste, it's just a shame this impression of dryness goes on...
The finish is long and very pleasant.
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Lowlands

There are only three active distilleries left in the Lowlands. This area was during the 18th and 19th century the main producer of whisky. This area has seen the birth of the industrail production of whisky.

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Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information about the Lowlands area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow

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