Liquidated Liquid: Three New Bladnochs from K&L

I've always felt Bladnoch was one of the more underrated Scotch distilleries.  Like a number of distilleries, this Lowlander was shuttered briefly in the '90s (by Diageo) and then restarted under new ownership.  K&L, which previously brought us an excellent Bladnoch from Chieftain's, went straight to the source this time and got the Bladnoch distillery to bottle three different single barrel expressions for them. K&L's three bottles represent different ages, different peating levels and different eras of the distillery.

When I first wrote this post, I thought it would be a good opportunity for folks to try some Bladnoch distillery bottlings, since the US doesn't get them.  It turns out, it may be the last chance to try distillery Bladnochs given yesterday's sad news that the distillery is going into liquidation.


Young Bladnoch, distilled 2009, heavily peated, 61.3% abv ($55)

Obviously, this is really young.  The nose is new makey with buttered popcorn.  The palate is bold and peaty with a touch of sweetness, and all of that sweet peat carries into a nice, long finish.  This is surprisingly good considering its age.  It could easily pass for a Kilchoman or a young Ardbeg.  It still has a lot of new make notes, but it's got a lot going for it.  It's good now, but it has huge potential.  I hope someone holds onto a few casks of it, because I'd love to try it in 10 or 20 years.  


Bladnoch 11, distilled 2002, lightly peated, 51.5% abv ($70)

Whoa, this is some funky stuff.  The nose is briny and mildewy, like a damp basement near the ocean.  The palate starts with peat and then gets very sweet and a bit chemically, like artificial sweetener.   By the finish, it's downright perfumey in character with some light peat on the palate.  This is weird stuff.  Tasting blind, I would probably have guessed Connemara, the peated Irish Whiskey. 


Bladnoch 23, distilled 1990, 44.4% abv ($120)

This one, of course, comes from the previous owners of the distillery. The nose is really gorgeous, equal parts malty and fruity.  The palate isn't quite as complex.  It starts with clean, malty notes, move to some graininess, and a bit of soapiness.  The finish is buttery and filled with oak notes.  This is the only one of the trio that falls into the traditional Bladnoch flavor profile, and it does it well.


This was a nice trio of three different styles from the distillery.  The 23 year old was my favorite and the one that will appeal most to Bladnoch fans, but the Young Bladnoch is fun stuff that deserves attention.  While the 11 year old was not bad, it was a bit of a mess flavor wise and was certainly the weakest of the three (though Connemara fans might like it).

This distillery was clearly going in some interesting directions, and it saddens me that it's having problems (although apparently the problems are not of a financial nature).  Hopefully, someone will step in and rescue the distillery.

Whiskies Worth the Hype: Bladnoch & GlenDronach from K&L

Sometimes it seems like whisky quality is inversely proportional to the hype surrounding it. I can no longer count the amount of times I've been let down by highly touted special releases. On the other hand, obscure indy bottlings or even budget daily pours are sometimes unpublicized gems. During the holiday season, the whisky hype can get totally out of the control, which is why it is especially refreshing to find some bottles that meet if not exceed the hype.

Earlier this year I wrote about K&L's exclusive barrel series in which the spirit buying Davids of K&L went to Scotland to select their own barrels from both distilleries and independent bottlers. The Davids took up a fair amount of bandwidth talking about how great these barrels were, so expectations were pretty high. Now the bottles are in the store, and I've been able to taste a handful of them, I must say that I agree that, at least with regard to the ones I've tasted, they are some pretty special bottles. Here is a review of two of my favorite so far.

Bladnoch 1992, 18 years old (Chieftain’s), Cask 4195, 270 bottles, 55.3% abv (K&L exclusive $89.99).

A Lowland distillery that was mothballed for much of the '90s and doesn't send its distillery bottlings to the US, Bladnoch is not easy to find. Even finding independent bottlings can be a challenge. The nose on this Chieftain's bottling is of pure, rich malt with a pinch of dried fruit in the back. The palate is also malt forward with sweet grassy notes, fruit cocktail syrup, and perhaps just a touch of a sherry-like quality. The finish is sweet and malty with fruit. This reminds me of some of the best Lowlanders I've had, thick, rich, malty and syrupy (but not at all light, which is the stereotype for Lowlanders that really only applies to Auchentoshan). Good stuff and a very good price for what it is.


GlenDronach 1994, 16 years old, Cask 3186, 56% abv (K&L exclusive $116).

This is the other side of the spectrum from the Bladnoch, a huge sherry monster of a whisky. This whisky consists of two bourbon cask aged malts which were combined and finished in a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask for a short time (around six months). It was bottled by the distillery for K&L. The nose is a full on sherry assault with candied fruit and maybe even a bit of cinnamon. The palate kicks in very sweet; that dissipates a bit s you go, but it stays pretty sweet throughout. You don't get any malt flavors until the finish when the malt really kicks in. Drinking this neat is too sweet for my tastes, but water really does wonders for it, bringing out the malty flavor that's hinted at in the finish. A few drops of water cuts the sweetness and gives it a balance that was lacking when neat.

These are two dramatically different but very good whiskies. The entire list of K&L exclusive bottlings can be found on the right hand column of the K&L Spirits Blog.