Bladnoch 24 Years Old 1990 Adelphi Selection (54.1%, Adelphi, Refill Bourbon Cask #30549, 169 Bottles, 2014)

Single malt scotch whisky

54.1% ABV, ~ £95 for 70cl

Score: 88/100

What they say:

A 1990 vintage Bladnoch from independent bottler Adelphi. This was aged in a refill bourbon cask for 24 years before 169 bottles were yielded in 2014.

What I say:

Sampled at the Edinburgh Whisky Fringe 2014, we spent quite a while at the Adelphi stand (as usual!) and were well rewarded for it!! This is a 24 year old Bladnoch distilled in 1990 and surprisingly has plenty of peat influence in it!  Cask Number 30459.

Colour:

Straw gold

Nose:

Freshly mown hay, cereal barley malt, manuka honey and orange blossom, resinous oak wood

Taste:

Acrid oak wood, a little thin in mouthfeel, gristy cereal barley malt, spicy cinnamon, orange barley sugars

Finish:

Long, malty, earthy peat and chocolate/cocoa develop

Overall:

A progressive dram, this one develops right through to the finish – with that surprising peat smoke influence that really surprised me on first tasting. A delicious single cask bottling (again as usual) from Adelphi. Produced in 1990 when still under Diageo’s ownership, this whisky suggests that peated malt was being used at Bladnoch long before it was sold in 2000.