Bladnoch | Whisky Lady

Over the years, the Lowlands lost many distilleries… and then saw a bit of a revival. Bladnoch distillery is one such example. Initially founded in 1817, it had its “twists and turns”, changing hands, and restarting in 2015 when David Prior purchased both the distillery and stock of 2,500 casks.

Decadent Drinks selected stock from well before the 2014 closure with this expression. Part of the Whiskyland series, we were fortunate to sample this rather special dram at the 2025 London Whisky Show.

Bladnoch 35 year (1990 – 2025) Refill Barrel 54.2% (Decadent Drinks – Whiskyland Chapter Eleven) 212 Bottles

Nose – Super fruity! Lots of juicy yellow plum, some apricots, light ginger, gaining depth and character the more it opened in the glass – beautiful
Palate – Prickly at first, old wood, fall leaves, wet stone, minerals, then mellowed into sweet fruits
Finish – Pucker up kind of dry!

We thought of this as a late summer or early autumn kind of dram. It was incredibly inviting on the nose. I had anticipated something grassier – it was there, and yet what was prominent was the interplay between the rather spectacular nose and the more grounded palate.

A real highlight was exploring special drams with the Decadent Drinks folks: