We were really shocked upon realizing that, in the Whiskyfacile headquarters, a Whisky from Blair Athol distillery hasn’t been reviewed yet! What a shame! What were we thinking??? This pleasant distillery, wonderfully covered in climbing plants and located in the Highlands has contributed for several years to the wide spread of the “Flora & Fauna” series, distillery bottlings with a very satisfying price/quality ratio.
N: a bit (too much) alcoholic but, despite this initial feeling, very creamy, round and muffled, with a lot of toffee and caramel. Raisins, orange and a potpourri of fresh fruits deliver a general feeling of Zuppa Inglese or Malaga (check under the session: desserts). This is a simple but very enjoyable palette; very sweet for sure, sugary malt, but no excessive. The only particular note is a trace of fresh mint.
P: again a very alcoholic feeling for its 43%, with an equally very creamy and toffee centric intro. Afterwards, that sweetness we smelled doesn’t show up, there is only a rather weak red fruit. There is still a lot of nuts (walnut and almond), it appears suddenly a slightly bitter and vegetal malt. It’s really a bit weird, we’re perplexed. Again mint.
F: a dried fruit bitter cream and malt.
It seems that our beloved Flora & Fauna series has lowered down the quality a bit. As often happens for the OB, almost exclusively aged in a variety of casks, also for this Blair Athol, we can’t find macroscopic defects. Some small imperfections have been found, nothing too complex nor original, with a rather calm intensity. So 80/100 is the best we can do before forgetting again about this small distillery covered in leaves.
Recommended soundtrack: Raphael Gualazzi – Don’t call my name.
