Bladnoch

John and I first tasted Bladnoch at Federal, on a day when we had gone looking for Rosebank. Always being helpful, Joe offered us a taste of Bladnoch, as another lowland malt we might want to consider. We enjoyed the tasting, but didn't give much consideration to buying that day. Too bad for us. A wasted opportunity. We next tasted Bladnoch at Keens, during last fall's Haters Ball. Keens was featuring a twenty year old Bladnoch on their Great Scots flight. We loved it, but I figured that a 20 year-old malt, from a distillery that had been mothballed in the 90s (although recently reopened) was probably way out of our price range.

A week ago, I stopped in one of our local purveyors, really just intending to window shop. Imagine my surprise when, amidst about a dozen unspectacular Signatory bottlings, mostly malts I had little or no interest in, I spied a sixteen year old Bladnoch, non-chill-filtered, 46 percent, for the very reasonable price of $65. And so now, my cabinet features two of the great lowland malts -- whiskies that are not readily found around these parts; whiskies that are unlike anything else distilled in Scotland; hidden treasures if you will.

The most distinctive characteristic of Bladnoch is the nose. It has a huge, rich, fragrant, flowery nose that makes you want to keep sniffing the malt the entire time you have some in the glass. And the second most distinctive characteristic is the fact that this malt is entirely unlike anything else currently distilled in Scotland. The great Lowland malts are light and floral, although very flavorful. Their taste is as far from a classic highland or Speyside malt as those whiskies are from the peated malts of Islay. The taste is clean, fruity, almost sweet. I prefer a lowland malt before dining, but Murray thinks Bladnoch is perfect with dessert. I can attest to the fact that even after Keens' porterhouse, we still loved the Bladnoch we tasted that night. This bottling also has a hint of spice, not unlike the Rosebanks we've tasted. And because the nose is so strong, there is an extra kick of flavor after you swallow. It's not just a long finish, but rather, by opening your mouth again after swallowing, you allow the fragrance to reassert itself, and now the taste and the nose combine with an extra kick.

I hope that the guys who reopened Bladnoch can restore this malt to its classic heritage. And if they do it, I hope they bottle enough so that some finds its way across the Atlantic, and into upstate New York, so I don't have to travel 400 miles to find it. In the meantime, I hope the Signatory folks don't catch on to just how classy this lowland malt really is. I'd like to keep finding the occasional bottle for a moderate price, until the new product ages long enough, gets put into bottles, and then gets shipped to my neighborhood.