Blair Athol 14 yo, Vom Fass

There isn’t really a whole lot of information on Blair Athol.

We know this is a blending distillery, and most of the 2.5 million L output from 4 stills feeds the Bells line of blends. It was modernized in the late 50s and there haven’t been very many OBs at all. There’s the flora & fauna range of bottlings recently but that’s about it.

Fun fact to know is that Blair Athol uses a single L where else the village, and indeed the famous Atholl Highlanders use a double L. ‘Atholl Highlanders’ is also the title of a bagpipe march:

It does have looks going for it though:

Blair Athol 14 yo, Vom Fass, 40%

  Nose: Golden raisins and honey. Hmm… bit of a head scratcher. Heavy vegetable oil, apple and plum shavings, pear drops, then a bit of hay, a bit of dry grass, last weeks flowers still in the case. Bit of an off note somewhere. Also nutmeg and some berry jam. Can’t tell if it’s sherried, might have been a third refill?

  Palette: Light spice immediately on the tongue, dry grass, dry malt, not sweet but not exactly dry either. I’m confused. Something like apple chips but also some plant resin, some honey, some herbs, a little bit of everything.

  Finish: Medium-short, herby and dry.

I’m a bit confused by this one. Not a modern crowd pleaser and yet not shy about its quirks. I can see how a bit of Caol Ila, a bit of sherry and some grain can make this a nice blend.