Bladnoch 8 Year Old - Belted Galloway Label Whisky 70cl

Aroma: citrus fruits, flowers and honey. Green tea. With water - more pepper and lemon. Palate: bit dry, lots of lemon, zest and other citrus fruits - grapefruit, lime. Goes well neat. Spicy - some ginger and white pepper. Warm. Notes of hay. Tiny bit of bitter chocolate and black tea tannins. Water brings more grapefruits and bitter freshness. Finish: seemed bit to short, with spice an grapefruit.
Comments: interesting and unusual for me. Maybe not my taste. Good balance for it's age. Goes well neat. Liked much more than 9 yo version.

An extremely floral nose – lilies and pungent white flowers. Gorgeously herbal with light straw/ light eucalyptus infused honey. Really very pungent as hints of rose petal marc and manure is added to the mix. Bold and assertive, again the oak supports but adds more noticeable vanillins.

The palate is less oily than the 46% bottling and a lot grassier, almost like pre-Raymond era spirit. The piquant alcohol is mitigated by the bucket loads of honey coated apricot fruit. Excellent length. Develops a late tangerine/ Satsuma note as the marc and botanical notes returning on the finish. A really invigorating dram.

With water the aromas are even grassier, but with a nod towards the dried rushes/ reedy character of old Bladnoch. Poised and balanced, still very honeyed. That ‘reedy’ character is more noticeable on the palate, and the water has made this wonderfully mouth filling and robust. Even the youthful marc notes have faded into the background. Give this another couple of years and this will be the perfect age for the ‘new style’ Bladnoch.