Product Description
It was 1817 when John and Thomas McClelland took out a licence to make whisky on their farm in the hamlet of Bladnoch near Wigtown in the far south-west of Scotland. It stayed in family ownership until 1905, when it was one of many stills to close during a period of over-supply and low sales. Bladnoch is not far from the sea crossing between Stranraer and Larne and twice in its history its saviours have come from Northern Ireland. The first of these was Belfast distiller Dunville & Co. which owned the Royal Irish distillery. It bought Bladnoch in 1911 and continued production – albeit intermittently – until 1937. At that point, Dunville’s directors were spooked by (Scottish-based) DCL’s declaration that Irish whiskey had no future. After DCL turned down the chance to buy the firm, it went into liquidation, despite being profitable and having stock. Bladnoch was closed once more. Worse was to follow. Its new owner, Ross & Coulter, sold off Bladnoch’s mature stock and sent the distilling equipment to Sweden – and so the story continues, with owners coming and going at rapid rate. Bladnoch reopened in 1956, was expanded to four stills in 1966, became part of Inver House for a decade, and then in 1983 was bought by Arthur Bell & Son. After Bell’s was taken over it was folded into Guinness/UD [now Diageo] and production once again slowed. In 1993, it was officially decommissioned. The year after, however, two brothers from Northern Ireland bought it with the initial idea of turning the extensive site into a holiday village. A change of heart soon after saw them wishing to start making whisky again – contrary to the terms of sale. It took six years to persuade Diageo to allow them to make 100,000 litres a year – below capacity and as it turned out right on the limits of profitability. In July 2015 Australian businessman David Prior, along with ex-Scotch Whisky Association CEO, Gavin Hewitt, announced the purchase of Bladnoch and plans to restore the distillery to its former glory. Production at Bladnoch offically restarted in June 2017, with the flow of a grassy, malty Lowland-style spirit.
The bouquet brings green apple boiled sweeties. Coffee beans and toffee, dry rice and hints of cider aromas. Bread and butter pudding. Once it’s opened up and warmed it provides some really alluring sweet toffee smells, alongside a vibrant, fresher note – it feels coastal but without the salt, if that makes sense. The palate shows a great entrance; a little kick of warming spice and some fresh apple notes make it through. A sweet floral aftershave, which is really pleasant. Chocolatey coconut, like a lighter version of a Bounty, and so very quaffable. It reminds me of the Aultmore 12 a wee bit, with chocolate toffee aboard a very fresh apple vibe. It’s a really delicious dram; the toffee apple, green fruit notes are beginning to dominate as the dram sits longer and there’s a very small minty thread running in the background somewhere, adding to that freshness. Finish is decently long and lingering.