Bladnoch 11 Year Old

 Bladnoch 11 Year Old. A Review

This release was delayed by over half a year here in Israel, due to COVID. This much awaited release eventually arrived around May 2021.

Looking on the Map of Scottish distilleries, Bladnoch, on the banks of the river Bladnoch is completely on its own with no other nearby distilleries. It has a visitor’s centre but you would have to be a huge Bladnoch fan, living in the Western Lowlands or holidaying in the area to actually get there. It is a good hour and a half drive from Gretna Green on the A74(M) and of course, another one and a half hours to get back onto the A74(M), say at Lockerbie.

Nevertheless, I certainly have a visit to Bladnoch on my itinerary for my next trip to Scotland, Be’ezrat Hashem, soon. Things were looking up as far as Covid restrictions are concerned with talk of opening up flights to the UK and relaxing isolation times. We here in Israel have been enjoying two hole weeks of mask free life. Unfortunately, the government reintroduced mask wearing indoors again this Friday, due to rising infection numbers caused by the Indian variant, which they now insist on calling Variant “D”. 

Packaging

Pretty much identical to the Bladnoch 10 which I covered extensively in that review.

Suffice to say, I was really impressed and still am. The quality of the materials and styling is just excellent.

Kashrus: Certification by the KLBD. 100% Ex-Bourbon casks. (Stated on the label)

Appearance

The label states it’s 11 Years old, Non-Chill Filtered and Bourbon matured. 2020 Release. 46.7% abv. It is a shame that they neglect to mention that this is natural colour! By the absolutely beautiful rich golden yellow colour, typical of active Bourbon casks, with not a hint of brown-y tint, I have no doubt that it the natural colour coming from the casks, but two extra words on the label would have been nice.

Swirling the liquid round in my Copita glass, it appears to be thick, oily and of a high viscosity.

Aromas

Surprisingly for a 46.7% abv without any water added, there is no alcohol nose burn whatsoever. This is quite an impressive feet. What you get is a big rich and warm yellow vanilla and honey nose. Adding a few drops of water brings out slight wood spice notes and a hint of yellow apples.

The colour yellow seems to be a theme here.

Letting the spirit sit in the glass for a few minutes and coming back to it, floral aromas of yellow daffodils and honeysuckle. There is a hint of yellow apple in the background but very dominant is the vanilla pods and honey.

Tasting

No surprises here. Big thick mouth coating feel with lashings of honey, maple syrup, vanilla and more honey. It’s quite sweet. Dare I say, Bourbon-ish sweet? There is nothing subtle about this whisky. Everything is up front. Yellow vanilla, yellow caramel with only a mere hint of yellow apple in the background.

This is a really tasty dram but if I had to criticise it, I’d say that I miss that green vegetable flavour note of the Bladnoch 10, which set it apart from all the run of the mill, Speyside Ex-Bourbon cask floral/fruity/custard single malts. Yes, there is a bit more body to this. It kind of reminds me of the Deanston 18 with its rich First-Fill Bourbon casks dominating everything. (And yes, I do know that this is a Lowlands Single Malt and I’ve just compared it with Speysiders).

I mentioned yellow apples before but honestly, you really have to search for it. The Caramel, honey and maple syrup are so dominating that it leaves no room for very much fruity flavours or come to that matter, barley grain or pastry tastes.

Comparing this to the Glenrothes Alba Reserve and the Auchentoshan American Oak, the Glenrothes is sweeter and the Auchentoshan has more artificial tastes of caramel and vanilla, similar to having added vanilla essence to a cake. You can taste the different between a cake where say, Brandy essence has been added compared to a cake where real Brandy has been added.

Going back to the Bladnoch 11, its quality really shines through. All the flavours coming from this glass are natural and fresh. Real flowers, real vanilla and freshly made caramel with browned sugar and milk. A touch of wood spice appears on the finish but you’d hardly notice it.

Conclusions

I must admit I preferred the Bladnoch 10. I felt it had more complexity and interesting flavour elements. This is a bit too in-your-face yellow everything for my palate. Having said this, I’ve just looked at the level in the bottle and see that it is almost gone. I also notice that it seems to be very popular with guests.

I would definitely serve this to a newbie who was getting into whisky, especially someone who was coming from the world of Bourbon. It is really tasty with clean natural and clearly recognisable flavours, and, as I said earlier, even at almost 47% abv, no hint of any harsh alcohol bite.

It’s not something which would interest the more adventurous. I am a big fan of Bladnoch and would really love to try an older example. Say an 18-Year-Old. Bladnoch is still building up its stock so I doubt whether we will see this for some time but this distillery is, in my opinion, one of the stars of the Scotch Whisky industry and I am absolutely certain that we are going to see really special things coming out of this distillery in the coming years. Something to look forward to.