By Randall H. Borkus
Rating: A
(Credit: Randall H. Borkus)
Bladnoch Distillery’s 30 Year Old single malt was unveiled in 2022. Many Americans do not know the distiller, which nonetheless has a long rich history.
Bladnoch is part of the Lowlands Whisky Region, home to other well-known distilleries which include Auchentoshan, Girvan and Glenkinchie; and newer lesser well-known distilleries such as Aisla Bay, Annandale, Bonnington, Borders, Clydeside, Daftmill, Eden Mill, Jackton, and the Glasgow Distillery.
Bladnoch was founded in 1817 by brothers John and Thomas McClelland. It is both Scotland’s southernmost distillery and has a tempestuous history of closures, ownership changes, and periods of being shuttered, including notable periods under Inverhouse Distillers and United Distillers. In its early heyday there was so much whisky distilled there it was nicknamed the “Queen of the Lowlands,” but ended up shuttered anyway.
In 2015, Australian yogurt tycoon David Prior bought the then-shuttered distillery, and after an extensive overhaul, the distillery was back to making single malt whisky. In 2019, Nick Savage left Macallan to lead Bladnoch operations which is considered a game changer by many.
Bladnoch’s portfolio continues to rise with a core range of non-age statement whiskies matured and finished in various cask types; including an age statement lineup consisting of 10, 11, 14. 17 and 19-year-old single malts capped off by 25 and a 29 year-old special releases. More recently, the lineup was further enhanced with their oldest release to date, this 30 year old. This whisky was distilled prior to new management’s arrival, so here we have a real piece of Lowland Scotch history.
It’s a very limited-edition bottling from only two casks, an Oloroso sherry and Moscatel wine cask. The whisky is non-chill filtered, no color is added, and it’s bottled at 45.5% ABV.
The Scotch
The bottle comes houses in a stout leather-bound case, built to last a lifetime. The whisky color is a deep boysenberry jam glare to it in my Glencairn. The nose is loaded with hints of dried raisins, dried apricots, dried berries, overripe plum, Caramel, vanilla bean, oak, and baking spices.
The front palate is laden with flavors of overripe fruits, dried pears, sweet citrus marmalade and heated nuts dusted with a Caramel-oak baking spice. The mid-palate and finish are rich, smooth and multi-layered with sweet overripe plum, baking spice settling in with hints of peppercorn, cacao and a welcome mature oak dryness.
The whisky drinks very sophisticated and downright eloquent. This is the best whisky I have had the good fortune to imbibe this year so far. If you enjoy mature sherried scotches and want to splurge with a dram of Lowland history, the Bladnoch 30 Year Old single malt will not disappoint.
The Price
There were only 950 bottles released globally, and at the time of this writing Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicagoland has a limited number of 700ML bottles for $699.99.
