Bladnoch 27 Years Old Antique Lions of Spirits The Butterflies 49.4% 1990

Professional reviews

Whisky Notes (89)

Nose: warm fruity notes (mirabelles, apricots, clementines, papaya) with hints of vanilla and polished oak. Honey, buttercups, subtle linseed oil. Sweet lemons. A very warm, almost tropical version. Mouth: the lusicous fruits are still there (apricots, grapefruits, limes) but it gets a little grassier now, more typically Bladnoch if you like. Fresh minty notes, as well as some star anise. Peppercorns. Green tea. Lightly bitter herbs. Overall greener than on the nose. Finish: long, very zesty, very grassy, with hints of resinous oak.

The warm vanilla and fruits really make the nose shine. Stays very good on the palate, even with the added grassy notes and bitter edges.

BOW (87)

Maltfascination:

Sniff:
Very gentle on the nose with all timids notes. Oak, barley, lemon balm, corky apples, pastry cream. Very light, floral and grassy. Very Lowlands-y.

Sip:
Again, very timid and typical Lowlands flavors. Straw, dried meadow flowers, dandelion, buttercups, poppies. Also black pepper, barley ears, dryness.

Swallow:
The finish continues on this timid road. Lots of barley and oak, lots of straw, some dried flowers.

87/100

A bit too old and therefore the cask seems to have taken over. What’s interesting is that I don’t find too many of the buttery notes in here.

In a way this whisky covers a lot of Bladnoch, distilled by Owner A, largely matured by Owner B, and then bottled fairly recently, when Owner C was running the place. Of course, it’s bottled by an independent bottler, so that’s not entirely accurate, but still. Never let technicalitiies stand in the way of fun trivia like this.