Scotland, Southern Highlands. Distillery operational. Owner: Diageo

Located right at the entrance to the village of Pitlochry, the Blair Athol distillery has become fairly well-known among collectors due to the quality of its bottlings from the 1960s. In terms of both aromas and aesthetics, its 8 Year Old and 12 Year Old are worthy representatives of the prosperous post-WWII period (1945-1975). This meant that, for a long time, Blair Athol was limited to these two sherry cask bottlings. Later, under the influence of the United Distillers group, it joined the Rare Malts Selection, Flora & Fauna, Manager's Choice and Manager's Dram ranges. It is the primary malt used in the Bell's blend.

A Blair Athol 27 year old distilled in 1975 and bottled at cask strength in 2003 for the Rare Malts series. Created in the mid-1990s by United Distillers (Diageo), the Rare Malts series features bottlings from many of the group’’s distilleries, including some of the lesser known whose production was generally used for blends, as well as closed distilleries such as Port Ellen and Brora. Bottled at cask strength, the whiskies in the range are also known for their sometimes astounding alcohol content, often exceeding 60% ABV. The Rare Malts range was discontinued in 2005.