Review #292: Blair Athol 21 Old Malt Cask 48.9

Highland- 21 - NCA  - NCF -  $140 if I had to guess - 48.9% 

Blair Athol is a highland distillery that is owned by everybody's favorite soulless corporation Diagio.  It is a blending workhorse for Bell's blended whisky. This particular barrel is ex-sherry, bottled in 1995.  I believe Old Malt Cask bottles every thing at 50% so this must have had more angel's share than that. 

Color - Russet

Nose - Sherried fruits and citrus at first, stewed apricots, sand, malt, lime rind, green tomatoes

Palate -  Bitter apples, raw oak, caramel, - There is something like an old basement in this I can't quite place
Finish - Medium - apple pie, raw oak, doublemint gum

Overall - 3.5 -  I am not a fan of this one.  The nose is weird, its got a lot of sherry covering up some weird smells with hints of bitter.  Then the palate is just unpleasant.  There is a lot of bitter and wood but then creeping through and getting more pronounced is this basement/storage shelter smell.  Then the finish is super minty.  Just doesn't have balance and is not what I expect from scotch.  Seriously, this would blow my mind if I had it blind.  With water it is even more bizarre on the palate and minty on the finish.  

--------------------------------------------------------------

Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale
5.5 I enjoyed it but will never be priced at where I would buy a bottle

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.2

Standard Deviation 0.96

Skew 0.51

Kurtosis -0.28