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 distilled in 1966 and bottled in 1983 by Cadenhead. Cadenhead was founded in 1842 by George Duncan, who was quickly joined by William Cadenhead who renamed the business after Duncan’’s death in 1858. When Cadenhead in turn passed away in 1904, his nephew Robert Duthie took over and turned the business into the independent bottler it is today. After Duthie, it was managed by one of his employees, Ann Olivier, whose stubborn approach to running the business led to much of the stock having to be sold at auction by Christie’’s (London) in 1972 to feed the kitty and save the business. It was then sold to J. & A. Mitchell and Co, who also owned Springbank, and moved to Campbeltown. The Cadenhead “dumpy” bottles were a spearhead for the business between the late 1970s and early 1990s. There were almost 400 in total, covering most of Scotland’’s distilleries. The whiskies were bottled at 46% initially, and then at cask strength from 1989, paving the way for the Authentic Collection.