Blair Athol 20 years 1976 Cadenhead's Cask Strength - bottled 1996 Authentic Collection

Lot presentation

Blair Athol 20 years 1976 Cadenhead's Cask Strength - bottled 1996 Authentic Collection

The wine

A Blair Athol 20 year old distilled in 1975 and bottled at cask strength by Cadenhead for its Authentic Collection range. 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. Launched in the 1990s, the Authentic Collection marked the end of the previous two decades of bottlings at 46%, instead favouring cask strength releases. It became Cadenhead’’s main range.

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.