Bladnoch Alinta Reserve Peated
Official Bottling | 46.7% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average. In a good way.
TL;DR
You can’t go wrong with peat and sherry, until you do
Sometimes when you win, you lose
It’s been a while since I last submitted a review for Dramface.
It’s not because I didn’t have the time, and even if that was the reason, it would’ve been a lousy excuse, as I consider it a pleasure and privilege to be a part of this and I should have made time. But it wasn’t that.
The reason is far more selfish. You see, even having a moderately humble collection (roughly some 60 odd bottles at any given time), it’s proven to be somewhat of a challenge to ‘manage’ things. By which I mean it’s been very tempting to crack open a new bottle every other week, get up close and personal with it over the course of a few weekends and pour my thoughts and opinions about it onto paper. And for a while that was exactly what I was doing.
But it also meant that the available shelf space for new bottles was getting quite narrow to say the least. Essentially, I ended up with an all but overflowing cabinet packed with dozens of open bottles, all roughly half empty. Up to the point that I needed to get ‘creative’. Storing new bottles elsewhere around the house, understandably, doesn’t really sit well with my better half who is of the firm opinion I’ve got plenty of bottles as it is. So I promised myself to re-embrace the ‘one-out, one-in’ principle. Meaning I need to finish open bottles before buying new ones.
The will is strong, but the flesh is weak.
As I do most of my whisky purchases through brick and mortar stores (as a matter of principle, sure, but also out of self-preservation as it helps to keep a lid on what I actually buy), not getting in the car and driving up to them in the first place made this vow rather easier to stick to. So, I probably would have lived up to it, if it hadn’t been for auction sites. Damn them…
Despite my best efforts and a promise of not buying new bottles until some space in the cabinet became available, one or two bottles might have slipped through the mesh of the net and found their way into casa Argyle. But maybe I’m better off for it?
Review
Bladnoch Alinta Peated Reserve, Official bottling, NAS, 46.7% ABV
£62 paid (at auction, incl. fees & shipping) typically £80 retail.
Bladnoch isn’t a distillery we tend to talk about a lot here at Dramface. With close to 1,100 reviews under our belt, I think you can count our Bladnoch reviews on the fingers of just one hand. I can’t of course speak for the rest of team Dramface, but to me it’s mainly because I don’t tend to really connect with what they are doing – as a brand.
We always talk about how we don’t really care about marketing and branding as long as the whisky is good, and to an extent that’s absolutely true, but when a distillery ‘suffers’ from sending out mixed or confusing messages, I tend to disconnect rather quickly, even if that means missing out on some tasty stuff. And I feel that applies to what Bladnoch has been doing in recent years.
Their core range (or what passes as their core range in any case) is a bit all over the place for starters. Apart from the 10 year old and one or two NAS expressions, it seems to be a case of rolling the dice to see what they consider ‘core range’, for starters. Apart from the 10 year old, there is also their 11 year old (seemingly now discontinued again). Releasing a 10 and an 11 year old as part of a core range – I’m sorry, but the logic behind that eludes me, I’m afraid. Particularly when the next age stated core range releases are a 17 yo and a 19 yo.
Then there are the NAS expressions, such as the Alinta, Vinaya and Samsara. All but the Alinta are released with an ABV of 46.7%, in line with the age stated expressions. The Alinta is released at a slightly higher ABV, of 47%. But get this: this Alinta “Reserve” is also bottled at 46.7% ABV. And it comes with an (unofficial) age statement of 14 years.
On top of that, there’s the matter of pricing and presentation. As it happens, one of my first ever Dramface contributions covered an official 14 year old Bladnoch and I’ve no idea what happened with that one in terms of availability. Two and a half years ago, I already addressed the fact that Bladnoch’s attempt at premiumisation seemed clumsy and artificial, but it seems they’re determined to stick to their guns. Fair play, and good luck to them. What they are doing in terms of branding clearly isn’t aimed at me, and that’s absolutely fine.
I know, in terms of production and ownership in the last few decades, they’ve been all over the place and clearly have patchy stocks and a dearth of anything for certain years, but strategies that make it difficult for people to create connections with a brand through meaningful and understandable core releases have suffered. You only need to consider the recent news from Waterford, or glance towards their neighbours at Annandale to see where bonds are lost.
Because of all the red flags, I can’t say I’m particularly grievant about not connecting with this distillery. But that didn’t stop me from pulling the trigger when I stumbled upon what seemed like a bargain on auction. It was November, the weather outside was bleak, windy and wet, and a combo of sherry casks and peat seemed to be just what the doctor ordered for a dose of itchy whisky trigger finger.
Score: 5/10
Average. In a good way.
TL;DR
You can’t go wrong with peat and sherry, until you do
Nose
Nutty – the amontillado casks are in full swing here, but it’s intertwined with the peat and the result, I’m afraid to say, isn’t really to my liking. It brings something ‘mouldy’ and slightly sulphury to the table. Generally, I have a high tolerance level towards sulphur notes in a whisky and, when in check, I find I even like the fact that it adds a bit of a dirty character to things. Not so much here, though. Luckily it diminishes as I make my way through the bottle, making way for notes of raisins, mild spices and some earthy coffee and subtle chocolate notes.
Palate
Mildly peaty – earthy smoke notes and nutty, with again that whiff of mould and sulphur. It was particularly noticeable on the first pours after opening the bottle and luckily it does mellow out over time, but so far (roughly 1/3 into the bottle) hasn’t entirely taken its leave. Dried fruits, chocolate and spices. Medium length but full and slightly drying on the mouthfeel, which goes into a gently bitter, earthy peat and soft, smoky finish.
The Dregs
At first I was really put off by those mouldy notes in the nose and on the palate, up to the point where I was ready to mark this a very underwhelming 3/10, as I indeed was disappointed.
Given time, it is improving and now it’s cruising its way to a higher score and I’m by no means ruling out that it might even merit its way to a 6/10 if it improves further. That said, I feel I really need to live up to my commitment of finishing opened bottles before anything else, and seeing how I don’t really care much for over indulging, this one will have to wait its due turn, as there are at least two dozen other bottles that have been open for way longer than this, waiting to be finished and sent to the whisky graveyard.
So the verdict, without considering the overly steep RRP (shave 15 to 20 quid off the price tag, and it might, possibly maybe, be more in tune with what it actually has to offer) is that I’m willing to give this the benefit of the doubt and mark it as ‘average, in a good way’. And I feel that’s me being lenient…
Score: 5/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EA
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