Bladnoch debuts 17-year-old single malt

Lowland distillery Bladnoch has launched a limited edition 17-year-old single malt Scotch whisky finished in Californian red wine casks.

Bladnoch 17 Year Old is described as having notes of spicy oak and orange marmalade

Bladnoch 17 Year Old Single Malt is bottled at 46.7% abv and is non-chill-filtered.

The liquid was first filled into ex-Bourbon barrels in 2001 and then disgorged and re-filled into ex-California red wine casks over two processes in March 2016 and January 2017.

On the nose, the expression is described as having hints of cherries and dried fruits, along with spicy oak and orange marmalade on the palate and a malty finish.

Owner David Prior describes the 17-year-old as “my favourite Bladnoch yet. This one is an absolute stunner”.

The new expression joins the range, which includes an “accessible” 10-year-old, no-age-statement Bladnoch Samsara, 15-year-old Bladnoch Adela and 25-year-old Bladnoch Talia.

Bladnoch 17 Year Old is available in stores across Europe. It will launch in the US in late February, and Australia and Asia in April 2019.

Bladnoch Distillery will open a “state-of-the-art” visitor centre in June this year. The site will offer tours and tasting sessions to the public.

The distillery was closed in March 2014, after its parent company, Northern Ireland-based Co-ordinated Development Services, went into liquidation.

But in 2015 it was revealed that the 200-year-old Bladnoch Distillery was set to restart production after the site was acquired by Australian businessman David Prior.

Ian MacMillan, Bladnoch master distiller, will step down from his role in the first quarter of 2019.