{"product_id":"blair-athol-15-year-old-smws-single-cask-68-122-a-cafe-in-jerez-70cl","title":"Blair Athol 15 Year Old SMWS Single Cask 68.122 A Cafe in Jerez Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 70cl","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 28px;\"\u003eBlair Athol 15 Year Old SMWS Single Cask 68.122 A Cafe in Jerez 70cl\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the highest rated Blair Athol's being a 1st fill PX Barrique. The sherry coats the mouth instantaneously and the dryness that ensues is legendary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of our favourite drams here at Whisky Situation also. This one does not disappoint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDistilled: 18\/08\/2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCask Type: 1st Fill Ex PX Barrique\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTasting Notes \u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003carticle\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe nose evoked a café in Jerez; chilled dulce sherry and coffee, polished wood tables, mantecados and polverónes, salted almonds, raisins, dried figs and jamon serrano. The palate was robust but balanced – dark toffee, muscovado, candied orange in dark chocolate and raspberry sauce over vanilla ice cream weighing in against old oak and cigarillos. The reduced nose encountered gingerbread, molasses, coffee grounds and nutty aromas (with the wind in from Africa). The palate now included red fruits, medjool dates, salty black olives, sweet wine and a spicy finish of nutmeg and clove. We transferred this whisky into a first fill, ex-bodega PX barrique after 11 years in ex-bourbon wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 20px;\"\u003eAbout Blair Athol\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA member of the ‘nutty-spicy’ camp which defined the old Bell’s distilleries, Blair Athol takes the first part of the descriptor to its boldest expression.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCloudy worts and a short fermentation time give the nutty base, but it is distillation which adds real weight to the distillate. A controlled level of solids coming across in the wash still add a rich, deep, malt-loaf character to the new make. It is this character which allows it to show so well in ex-Sherry, although for blending purposes the majority of the make is destined for ex-Bourbon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe central Perthshire town of Pitlochry sits on the banks of the River Tay and has had a distillery since 1798, making its plant one of the oldest legal whisky-making sites in Scotland. The original distillery was named Aldour after the burn which supplied it with process water, but changed its name to Blair Athol [after a village seven miles to the north] in 1825. This could conceivably have been to sweeten the Duke of Athol who owned the land\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt became part of the Peter Mackenzie blending house in 1886, but like many distilleries suffered during the economic troubles of the 1930s and fell silent between 1932 and 1949. In the interim period however Mackenzie (and its estate, which also included Dufftown distillery) had been bought by Perth-based blender, Arthur Bell \u0026amp; Sons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the 1970s, Bell’s was being built into the UK’s top-selling blended Scotch and, as a result, Blair Athol was doubled in capacity. Guinness (which bought Bell’s in 1985, and after further mergers evolved into Diageo) opened a visitor’s centre in 1987.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn an attempt to tap into the then infant single malt market, Bell’s bottled it as an eight-year-old in the 1980s, but in the Diageo era it has only appeared as a member of the Flora \u0026amp; Fauna range (at 12 years of age), matured in first-fill ex-Sherry casks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout SMWS \u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e59.8% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Blair Athol","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54686719344965,"sku":"000009","price":169.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0941\/9495\/8661\/files\/4397166554.jpg?v=1746546279","url":"https:\/\/b1yyjg-bk.myshopify.com\/products\/blair-athol-15-year-old-smws-single-cask-68-122-a-cafe-in-jerez-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation Old","version":"1.0","type":"link"}