Blair Athol 12 year old
June 29, 2025
This time around, I’m sipping on a kind of rare and yet relatively easy-to-find whisky that came straight from the distillery. In fact, that’s where I purchased it! It’s the Blair Athol 12 year old release created at the Blair Athol Distillery located in the Highland region of Scotland.
If you’re traveling somewhere between the central and northern parts of Scotland, chances are you’re on the A9, a stunning road that cuts right through the middle of the country. And if you’re ON the A9 and get a CHANCE, stop into the lovely little town of Pitlochry where you’ll find the equally lovely Blair Athol Distillery. It’s got to be one of the most photographed distilleries in Scotland. You can view my photos from there, if you’re interested
Now, what I’m drinking today is a distillery release. The distillery is owned by drinks giant Diageo and this bottling is part of what they call the Flora and Fauna series, a term that was coined by the late, renowned whisky writer Michael Jackson. Flora and Fauna is a way for Diageo to present some of the whiskies from their various operations that mostly go into blends, as stand-alone, single malt releases. For example, while the majority of Blair Athol’s outturn goes into Bell’s blended whisky, they set aside enough to produce this Flora and Fauna 12 year old, plus a small amount of the stock gets sold to independent bottlers who put their mark on the spirit. I’ve had several of those independent bottlings of Blair Athol and they were quite memorable but this is my first actual distillery release from them.
As the name gives away, this is a twelve year old whisky. While there’s some fancy marketing descriptions on the bottle and website, there’s very little specific info they want to share, so I went to the World Wide Web. From what I can piece together, this whisky was matured in sherry casks and, as it states on the label, bottled at 43 percent ABV. I can find nothing about chill-filtering, anywhere - so I’ll guess yes - and, there has been color added, which is a shame that they couldn’t rely on the natural look they certainly got from the sherry casks. Oh well.
Visuals:
That very attractive manufactured color they’ve come up with is a dark honey, tawny, chestnut-y thing.
And the legs are thick and moving quickly in the glass.
Nose:
The first note is one of caramel. Then I get the sensation of cola. I’m just going to say generic cola and not give unnecessary promotion to any particular cola-producing brand because I don’t feel that any of them are living up to the right way of doing business. OK, now I’m down off the soap box. There’s a sweetness, like maple syrup. This is followed by a slight jolt, something that’s a bit astringent, like a household cleaner. I get lemons. And then dried figs.
Palate:
My tongue initially gets a pleasant taste of chocolate-covered cherries. Then flat (generic) cola. A bit of a strong punch with molasses. Then burnt butter, maybe buttered popcorn. Definitely black pepper. And some somewhat refreshing watermelon taste.
43 percent ABV is a fine place to let this one stand on its own, so I’ve decided to not add any water for this review.
Finish:
The finish is very quick and doesn’t stay very long. There’s a slight sweetness, maybe some cherries or grapes, a little cotton candy, mixed with some black pepper.
Rating:
I enjoyed drinking this whisky. It’s tasty, although there’s nothing here that I found particularly memorable. For a sherry-matured whisky, it doesn’t explode with that sherry influence. Maybe even add a few drops of water and you could sip it all night. I’m not finding anything wrong with it, it’s a fine whisky. I just can’t put my finger on what might make it special. For me, I guess I’ll head back to the independent bottlers. I’m awarding the Blair Athol 12 year old release a seven finger pour.
Age Statement: 12 years
ABV: 43 %
Chill-filtered: yes
E150a caramel coloring added: yes
Average Price (700ml): £75 (UK)
https://www.malts.com/en-gb/products/blair-athol-12-year-old-flora-fauna-single-malt-whisky-70cl
