Blair Athol 12 Year Old
Located in the lovely town of Pitlochry, Blair Athol is, in my opinion, a distillery that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Even I have taken longer than I should to review one of their expressions, so I thought it about time to do so now. Thus I proudly present to you: Blair Athol 12 year old, a fine drink indeed.
Diving straight into the aroma, it presents a very light and summery bouquet of citrus, flowers, honey, and tangy apple. By no means an outstanding nose, I wouldn’t put it in my top 10, but it does have something distinctively unique about it, and that is the very summery feeling that fills your entire chest as you take a long sniff of it. That said, the nose isn’t quite as forceful as I would like – it doesn’t approach you with quite enough confidence, but what is there is very pleasant. Had it been just a bit bolder, a bit deeper, it would have been much better.
As soon as it hits your palate it overwhelms you with a sweetness that you wouldn’t expect to be so intense judging by the nose, consisting largely of caramel, toffee, juicy summer fruits, and sweet sugary citrus – a very pleasant surprise! This is quickly followed by a sharper flowery and spicy note which stays with you until you swallow, after which the aftertaste returns to the former sweetness before fading into a lovely pure honey note which stays with you for about a minute. The palate improves significantly on the aroma, and the honey after taste is quite possibly the best honey note I’ve ever experienced in a whisky.
So to summarize, there are three main reasons why I think this whisky deserves more credit and attention then it gets; firstly, the summery feeling of the aroma. Second, the surprising boom of sweetness as you take your first sip, and finally, the outstanding honey aftertaste. That said, it wouldn’t be my first choice in its price range – at $54-62 you can get more well balanced whiskys elsewhere; but you will struggle to find one more summery.
Eye: Caramel.
Nose: Summery, citrus, flowers, honey, tangy apple.
Palate: Caramel, toffee, juicy summer fruits, sweet sugary citrus, floral, spice, lovely honey.
Want to buy this whisky? Available in: UK & World (click)
