A rich, sweet malt best drunk with only a drop of water, when it holds its sweetness better.
Nose
Muscat grapes and Madeira wine, brimstone in the background, even tar. Dried apricots in the foreground, and treacle toffee.
Body
Medium to full bodied, but not cloying.
Palate
Rich and mouth-filling, with a good balance.
Finish
A curious sweetness is introduced at the end, after the acidity and dryish finish has passed.
Extended Tasting Notes:
Taste
in brief… Interesting and unusual sweet aftertaste. in a sentence… A rich, sweet malt best drunk with only a drop of water, when it holds its sweetness better.
Nose:
Muscat grapes and madeirised wine; a hint of over- the-top Sauternes. More than a whiff of brimstone in the background, even tar. Dried apricots in the foreground, and treacle toffee. Becomes more toffied as it is exposed to the air. With water, a dense combination of sweet and rich scents, like a basket of dried fruit, with some fresh gooseberries, apricots and oranges, topped by Russian toffees. The winey notes have fallen back
Finish:
Very curiously, a sweetness is introduced at the end, after the acidity and dryish finish has passed.
Review 80 18th October 2020
Today we look at a sample of Blair Athol Flora and Fauna 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, provided by Nick Gasgoine, apologies for the error in the video, Adam Nicholson has also provided other samples.
Blair Athol is a Diageo owned distillery in the Highlands of Scotland, bottled at 43% ABV, it is both chill filtered and colour adjusted. It has an average retail price £48.45 which for this 12 year old, makes it more expensive than other whiskies of the same age but also with better specifics such as strength and natural presentation. The cask maturation isn't specified on their website, but it does appear as it is ex-bourbon.
On the nose it appears aromatic with as the labeling suggests, some floral notes. It starts with a grape note, that of a sweet desert wine. Toffee or caramel, maybe burnt also appears with that note of charring. It is a lovely nose, one that could be enjoyed for sometime before tasting.
On the palate, it begins very dry with a musty grape bitter note, it is a little oily and mouth coating which gives it a chewy toffee quality. There is less sweetness that expected from the palate. The dominant feature is the drying bitterness, there is a touch of oak on the finish.
With a drop of water a slightly saline soy note appears which gives the palate a sweet and sour note, the sweet does start to creep in on the palate as the water does its job of releasing the flavours from the alcohol, however, the late arrival of sweetness or goosberry don't show to the extent of the description.
It is is not a bad whisky and is pleasantly enjoyable. With an average value score of a shade under 86 out of 100, helped along by the slightly higher ABV, it is certainly a whisky to try. However the near £50 bottle price is a little too high for our liking, we suggest with this presentation it should sit below £40.
For an overall score we give it 85 out of 100. Give it a go and certainly time in the glass to open as this whisky does offer more with patience.
Re-vistited on the 29th November 2021
After recently tasting the whisky again, we feel it deserves a slightly higher score of 87 out of 100 - This also takes into consideration the option to purchase a 200ml bottle which we feel offers greater variety to try the whisky without needing pay out for a full bottle. Both YouTube Reviews below.