Food & Drink

Review: Bladnoch Vinaya, 11 Years Old, and 14 Years Old (2021)

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The Bladnoch expressions hold coming, as we flip to 3 newly accessible bottlings — the brand new everlasting version Vinaya and two whiskies that shall be launched yearly — an 11 12 months outdated and a 14 12 months outdated. All of the pertinent particulars comply with as we style.

All are bottled at 93.4 proof.

Bladnoch Vinaya – From a Sanskrit phrase that means respect and gratitude, that is the second NAS malt within the Bladnoch portfolio, after Samsara. Matured in a mixture of bourbon and sherry casks, each first-fill. A bit fuzzy on the nostril, the whisky exhibits a considerably boozy, earthy character and a wholesome cereal character that sharpens up in time with some notes of orange peel that push by means of all of it. Think about my shock to search out this whisky so shiny and candy on the palate, chewy with nougat, plenty of vanilla, and a pleasant mixture of inexperienced apple, tangerine, and baking spice. Honey and a lightweight contact of milk chocolate develop because the end closes in, with some brooding burlap notes giving the conclusion a way of gravity. You wouldn’t realize it from the nostril, however this can be a properly balanced and classically-structured single malt with somewhat little bit of every thing to supply. B+ / $46 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]

Bladnoch 11 Years Outdated (2021) – Matured in 100% ex-bourbon casks. Toasty wooden and sesame seed notes dominate right here, the nostril ultimately taking over a personality akin to dusty butterscotch candies which have been sitting in a pocket for a 12 months or two. The steadiness doesn’t really feel superb on the palate both, which comes throughout as surprisingly scorching (although it’s the identical abv as Vinaya), with a closely perfumed but additionally weirdly vegetal word, and extra of that oversweetened butterscotch melding oddly with a ending word of dill. Lands with a thud. B- / $65

Bladnoch 14 Years Outdated (2021) – Totally matured in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Instantly, actually odd: This comes throughout on the nostril with a burst of smoke; I’d have thought this was peated had I not recognized in any other case. Outdated wooden, oily furnishings polish, and an enormous aroma of raisin and prune give this an influence and pungency that’s distinctive within the Bladnoch line — although the smoke dissipates with a little bit of time in glass. An overbearing woodiness continues the theme on the palate, strongly winey and closely oxidized, with an austere, leathery character that evokes Amontillado over Oloroso. This in the end seems like a case of an excessive amount of time in sherry casks, these oxidized wine notes completely battering the whisky round properly into its prolonged, pushy end to the purpose the place you’ll be able to style nothing else. B- / $110

bladnoch.com

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