2008, bottled 2021 | 56.5% ABV

A Gateway To Blair Athol?

As one of Scotland’s leading independent bottlers, Adelphi is well known for two things. Firstly, the incredibly small writing that appears on their labels and not forgetting their bias for sherry cask maturation.

In recent times, Adelphi outturns have become the scene of the modern-day whisky crime as customers virtually fight one another to bag the latest dark creation. The darker the better it seems. Regardless of the distillery of origin, there’s a scramble for the darkest and moodiest looking bottle of whisky up for grabs.

Adelphi’s approach to their labels and showcasing the colour of the whisky was pretty novel at the time. The majority of bottlers adopted coloured glass or hid away the colourful contents by adopting a Times Square billboard array of labels and branding. Adelphi kept things minimal and simple. Sure, you might need a magnifying glass to pick up the bottle information. Even so, at least you had the opportunity to consider, debate and investigate before making the purchase, or not. Nowadays that bottle is likely to be swept away to another eager consumer if you even hesitate.

Perhaps something new is overdue? As much as I like whisky traditions and our awareness of history, I do wonder if the minimalism and colour emphasis is now proving detrimental? Buyers driven by colour – the Apple generation – without much thought as to the contents of their heritage. We know that Aldephi has an amusing sense of humour, if you’ve seen the names of some of their blended creations. Why not take that into the single malt dynamic? Release an outturn all conveniently wrapped in brown paper bags, thereby taking away our ability to judge purely on colour and the impact of that sherry cask. Imagine an outturn almost entirely wrapped up? It’d be like Christmas coming early and might cause some bots to hesitate or develop a new x-ray vision algorithm. I’d be up for it and Adelphi won’t need to worry about purchasing my idea, I’ll just take the next Ardmore or Tormore that they bottle as commission.

Then again, turn the tables even more, or just flip them over. While we cannot legally filter colour away in whisky, like the cunning folks at Guinness did; except they didn’t, but the idea was sound. Something has to break our colour fascination and even if Adelphi adopted coloured glass bottles. There’s something wholesome and protective about the old shades of green and brown bottles. How I’ve laughed among enthusiasts when they’ve opened a Cadenhead’s dumpy (these only suggest matured in oak), leaving enthusiasts to ponder what type of cask when all they should be doing is enjoying the dram. It’s only you break the seal and pour, are you granted the ability to smell, taste and take in the colour. The modern age of releasing, actually removes one of those surprises from the off and that’s unfortunate.

Colour, or color in America, is pretty hard to beat when it comes to selling whisky. A sure-fire winner that doesn’t require any bells or whistles from a marketing perspective. Just get the bottle photograph online, front and centre, and watch an army of bots and flippers devour the prospect. The fact this Blair Athol sold out underlines the point. While it might be one of Diageo’s most popular distilleries in terms of visitor numbers, it has never enjoyed a mainstream following.

It’s a postcard picturesque distillery; the Forth Rail Bridge of distilleries. A magnificent setting on a warm Scottish summer, with its distillery courtyard taking you back centuries. For all the regular arrival of coaches and cars for the distillery tours, these never seem to translate into ringing cash tills from the shop or a desire to purchase a bottle of Blair Athol once they’ve returned home. An unfortunate legacy. The distillery exclusive and bottle-your-own options at many distilleries are frankly taking the piss when it comes to cost for tourists. But that’s a topic for another article. Instead, let’s consider the Blair Athol single malt.

Quite a rare sight much like a Capercaillie in the wild (which I’ve yet to see), the bulk of Blair Athol goes towards its masters’ blends. We’re talking about 99.5% last time I took the tour. That’s gone and spoken for, even before the distillery gets its hands on a single malt release. With even less hitting the independent market. Now, some single malt snobs (call ‘em what they are) might think because Blair Athol is only good for (or 99.5% worth) blends, that its single malt status isn’t worth discussing. Well, tough. Because that’s what we’re going to do and hopefully enjoy the outcome at the end of this article. 

Thing is, I’ve had Blair Athol in various shapes and forms. A solid cereal, biscuity and charismatic single malt in an ex-bourbon cask, it can also handle sherry maturation extremely well. It’s versatile and has a robust Highland character. History shows us it’s a core component of many blends, including most famously Bell’s. The Diageo crew of Caol Ila, Dufftown, Glenkinchie and Inchgower might show up in the recipe, but rest assured, it’s Blair Athol’s residency.

Taking this one step further, I considered why Blair Athol hasn’t been manipulated or bent to a more modern style of whisky. We’ve seen countless distilleries bulldozed, extended or replaced by a neighbouring unit in the search of efficiency. In terms of layout, appearance and produce, Blair Athol is old school or a bygone relic, depending on how you view it. The location does limit the scope for expansion and demolition, thankfully. Yet the faithful character that makes up the Blair Athol single malt is the foundation stone to other successes. Risk changing Blair Athol and you could lose something that has greater consequences than just a single malt from Pitlochry.

The distillery can pump out (give or take) 2.5 million litres per year. That’s impressive compared to the newer distilleries across Scotland, but chicken feed compared to other distilleries within Diageo’s stable. There’s just no option to expand as a visit to the still room will confirm. Excluding the new craft distilleries in Scotland, I’ve yet to be in a more confined production space. It could be dangerous, what with our expanded pandemic waistlines, to try and brush past these copper workmen without a minor burn. Blair Athol might be a bottleneck even if you continue to run production 24/7, demand will never dwindle, so just enjoy what you have.

Review

Bottle Details, 56.5% ABV
£80 if you can find it

Speaking of which, back to reality, and this Adelphi Blair Athol bottling. It may have sold out in most major stores, but Mally did come across a bottling at Ardnamurchan and kindly provided a 15cl pour for me to review. Distilled in 2008, cask #311135 was bottled at cask strength (56.5%) producing 301 bottles. Price-wise this was around £80 when it debuted in the summer of 2021.

Nose

Oh, there’s plenty of sherry here with beefsteak tomatoes, well-worn leather and chocolate. Very powerful. Fresh plucked basil, maltiness, liquorice, chilli flakes and good old MDF board. Cola cubes, hardened caramel, aniseed and memories of standing on the football terraces with a Bovril on a cold Fife afternoon. Peeling varnish and brown toast enforce a strong woodiness. A splash of water reveals smoke, some alcohol and blackcurrant.

Palate

less forceful than I was anticipating. The sherry is still the dominant characteristic, but a calmer influence than the nose. Cranberries, cherries and dark chocolate. Sultanas bring some much sugary fruitiness, rock candy and Brazil nuts. On the finish there’s a nice blend of treacle, sweet cinnamon and black peppercorns. Adding water takes off some of the edginess, making things more rounded and palatable; an easy sipping sherried whisky.

The Dregs

For the price, I think the experience somewhat doesn’t match expectations. The main issues are that it’s over-sherried with the enjoyable Blair Athol character overcome by the wood influence. You know what you’re getting if you’re purchasing based on colour and you’ll probably bump up the experience by a point. On my palate, I’m just left questioning how some of these sherried releases distinguish themselves from one another? I much prefer the recent Dramfool Athol bottling, which I’ve also reviewed that comes in £30 cheaper, so I know what I’ll be purchasing.   

Score: 6/10

Our thanks to Tyndrum Whisky for the image.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DM