Scotland, Lowlands. Distillery operational. Owner: David Prior

Located in the extreme south-west Lowlands, not far from the English border, Bladnoch has always had its gaze set on Belfast (Ireland), which stands not far away. This attraction is also part of its past, with its founders, the McClellands, teaming up with the Belfast company Wm Dunville & Co in 1911. Closed from 1938 until 1956, it was then traded between Inver House Distillers Ltd, Arthur Bell & Sons and, finally, United Distillers, companies for which it produced a whisky primarily used for the groups' blends. Up until the mid-1990s, its own bottlings were rare. United Distillers, however, incorporated it into its two flagship ranges of the time, The Rare Malts Selection and Flora & Fauna, but later decided to close the site in 1993. In 1994, Raymond Armstrong, of Northern Ireland, offered to buy the distillery to create a cultural centre. Despite a clause limiting production to 100,000 litres of spirit per year signed upon purchase, in 2000 he decided to re-launch production and soon released many new bottlings of Bladnoch.

Bladnoch is a Lowland distillery with an eventful past. Closed for most of its existence, it fought hard to remain open, changing hands on several occasions. Previous owners include Inver House and Bell’’s, who changed the distillery’’s production style to suit their needs. This has resulted in a wide variety of different styles in its official bottlings and those of independent bottlers released over the years.
This whisky is a very rare pure malt and difficult to find. The nose reveals notes of cider and the palate is full-bodied with flavours of rum, grape and pistachio ice cream. The finish is fairly long and very mellow, ending on sweet notes of sherry.