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Bladnoch 21 Year Old 1991 Riverstown

White Chocolate

0 085

@markjedi1Review by @markjedi1

21st Sep 2015

0

  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    85

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Bladnoch is the kind of distillery that you do not often come accross. Certainly not an official one. A lot has to do, I think, with the fact that the distillery had been for sale for over a year. Raymond and Colin Armstrong and two partners bought the distillery from Diageo in 1994, but two owners (including Colin) wanted to sell it, while to others (including Raymond) did not. An ugly lawsuit followed and since March 2014 the distillery was on the market (while there are clearly no financial troubles). An invester from Australia recently turned up to save the distillery. Luckily a lot of independent bottlers have some casks. This one from Riverstown was initially for the Far East, but I was able to secure a sample at an open bar tasting in Ghent, Belgium.

The nose is quite apart, at least for a Bladnoch. It is very floral and even farmy, without any hint of the usual sugar candy or white fruit. Well, I do get some apples after a while. More patience allows the farmy notes to evaporate to be replaced by marzipan and lemongrass. Even more patience offers some toffee and breakfast cereals with some dried peach. White chocolate! It just needed some time, I suppose.

It is wonderfully waxy on the palate and quickly evolves towards the typical Bladnoch that I like. Sugar candy, loads of grapefruit, vanilla, pineapple and a touch of beeswax. Wonderfully spicy on ginger and some pepper.

The long, spicy finish ends in an explosion of citrus fruit.

The nose made me doubt, but it appeared to be a time bomb. Again a great Bladnoch, coming close to my favorite bottling, the 21 Year Old 1991 for The Bonding Dram.

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