Blair Athol

Blair Athol Distillery was founded in 1798 by John Stewart and Ralph Robertson and is the predecessor to the name Blair Athol which came into use when John Robertson expanded the distillery in 1825.

Production ceased in 1932 and remained mothballed until it has an extensive re build and re opens in 1949 with 2 extra still added in 1973. The Guinness group buys out Arthur Bell and sons who had purchased the distillery in 1933  and opens its first Visitor centre in 1987.

Today the distillery is under the Diageo umbrella and is a very attractive old style distillery, found on the outskirts of Pitlochry. The distillery takes its water from the Allt Dour which translates from Gaelic into the “the burn of the otter”.

Todays capacity is 2.8 million litres which is a little more than the production of 1886 where production was 1500 gallons per week which would have been a capacity of 354,900 litres if running 52 weeks per year..

Batch 5 Blair Athol 21 Year Old

Day 5 from That Boutiquey Whisky Company..

Distillery.. Blair Athol

Region.. Highland

Age.. 21 years

Abv.. 51.5%

Outturn.. 297 bottles

Bottler.. That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Nose.. Rich vanilla and dried fruits mingle together with a dash of dark chocolate and gentle spices.

Palate.. Apple tart and pineapple slices give a little sweetness with soft spices, dates, raisins and plum sauce giving this a dark side. Dark chocolate smothering fresh fruits and malty undertones certainly balance this superbly.

Finish.. Oak and spice linger

Thoughts.. Another great offering from TBWC and a continuous quality of drams in this years advent calendar.. What can be better than coming home, opening the door on the calendar and enjoying something as delicious as this ???

Again this distillery is rarely seen in official bottlings with a 12 year old release within the flora and fauna series and a 23 year old from the Diageo special releases representing official bottlings but luckily the indie bottlers like That Boutiquey Whisky Company keeping up the showcasing of the liquid rather than it al disappearing into blends such as Bells..