Single Malt Whisky, Scotland/Highlands

Originally named Aldour, the Blair Athol distillery was founded in Pitlochry, in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, in 1825. A year after being mothballed in 1932, it was bought by Arthur Bell & Sons, best known for its blends. It doubled its production capacity in 1973, increasing the number of stills at the site from two to four. Today, it is part of the Diageo portfolio. Alternating between short fermentations (forty-six hours) and long fermentations (one hundred and four hours), the distillery produces a new make whose profile is dominated by smooth notes of malt and oil (hazelnut). This bottling selected from London’s Berry Bros. & Rudd is rich and layered, moving through a succession of authentic sequences dedicated to malt, fruit, herbs and honey.

Nose: Fresh, subtle. Opening on notes of honey (acacia), fruit (apple, hazelnut), fermentation (porridge), herbaceous (lucerne), spice (clove) and empyreumatic notes (beeswax), the nose continually gains in depth. Allowed to breathe, vanilla, incense and iris butter gradually seize the air.

Palate: Rich, unctuous. Citrus fruit zest (grapefruit, lemon) and vanilla pod initially take the lead. A torrent of malted barley grains then knock down everything in their path, leaving the field open for a plethora of fruits (apple, banana, Mirabelle plum, yellow peach).

Overall: Long, silky. Closing ranks with the palate, the finish opens on notes of liquorice, powdered ginger, crushed hazelnut and oil (walnut, sunflower). The retro-nasal olfaction brings spice (curry, nutmeg) before hurrying back to malt (cooked barley) and gentian root. Exactly replicating the nose, the dried extracts in the empty glass reveal notes of fruit, herbs and vanilla.