Distillery: BladnochScotland’s most Southerly distillery had a shaky few years when its parent company went into liquidation. Now rebooted, it has Ian MacMillan (formerly of Bunnahabhain and Tobermory) at the helm of distillation, bringing decades of whisky experience into the mix.
This second whisky in the new line-up, Adela, brings 15 years of Oloroso sherry maturation. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays with the character of the core spirit.
Nose: In a word, multilayered. Lots of heavy, meaty sherry tones – struck matches and boiled ham. Beneath it, sultanas, white peach and sandalwood and a base layer of buttery icing sugar like it’s younger sister, Samsara.
Palate: Redcurrants and black cherries – quite tart, but sweet and malty with vanilla cream, a hint of tobacco leaf, and dark chocolate.
Finish: Heavily roasted coffee beans and hazelnuts.
This isn’t a style of whisky that I tend to turn but there’s a lot going on here as it opens up and evolves. Intriguing and one I’d recommend to people who love their sherried drams on the more savoury side.
Onwards to the finalé, the 25 year old Talia…
The new bottlings can now be purchased in the UK via House of Malt.
