06/06/2025 Blair Athol

The soundtrack: Lustmord - Rising (06.06.06)

Blair Athol 14yo 2008/2022 Release No. 101 (53.1%, Angus Dundee Distillers for Alistair Walker Infrequent Flyers bottled exclusively for Whisky Bible imported by MetaBev Korea, Sauternes Hogshead Finish, C#807414, 278b, CBSC4 11681): a bottling for South Korea. One does not see that every day, eh? Well, unless one lives in South Korea, I suppose. Wonder how it got here... Whisky Bible (the shop, not the book) also had an exclusive Miltonduff in the same Infrequent Flyer range, as well as an official-bottling single cask of Arran. Nose: dessert wine and nail varnish. It is generally discreet, however, and a tad indistinct at first sniff. Shaking the glass pushes big wafts of polished furniture, teak, mahogany or redwood. Red wood, in any case (the colour, not the species). That wood seems to crawl back into its roots with a few seconds of quiet, and the nose goes back to sweet aromas -- now, we have puffy and slightly-oily muffins, cupcakes and rum baba. Suddenly, we are treated to a big slap of honey-glazed strawberries, followed by raspberry muffins served on a wooden board. The short version is that this is sweet, not sickly. The second nose has an unexpected mix of coins (brass, nickel) and desiccated pot plants, then fallen leaves and honey-coated banknotes (of the paper kind, not the current synthetic ones). Later yet, it displays qualities close to those of the liqueur de chicon that we tried many moons ago. Mouth: punchy, nutty, sweet, it also has a clear bitterness that hints at a nut liqueur or another. Moving the liquid in the mouth adds a creamy texture and transforms the juice into an almond paste. It is potent, not fierce, and has a lick of tree bark, when kept on the tongue for an extended period of time. The second sip is sweeter yet, and a trifle bitter -- not chicory-bitter; closer to almond liqueur. And lovely that is, too! It has a bite of raspberry-filled dark chocolate, PiM's style, and a lick of wood again. Finish: soaked cask bungs, honey-coated wooden cutting boards, and a gentle spicy note, somewhere between milled white pepper and grated nutmeg. Those spices give a lasting mouthfeel more than they give taste -- slightly numbing. The back of the palate registers a lingering sweet-wine note that comes close to syrupy. The second sip is sweeter and bitter too. The overall feeling it provides is that of a shot of eau-de-vie sweetened with cordial, taken with a honey-glazed strawberry. It works a treat! Water makes the whole more diffuse without changing it much. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)