Blair Athol Distillery
Pitlochry, Perthshire
History: This picturesque whisky distillery is located in the bustling town of Pitlochry. Its location is described as the gateway to the Highlands and is also one of the oldest legal whisky-making sites in Scotland: distilling has taken place on this site since 1798. The distillery was originally named Aldour after the burn which was used to create the whisky. In 1825 it changed its name to Blair Atholl and it has been that ever since. Like many of Scotland's historic distillery’s it struggled at points through the years before landing in the hands of established whisky blender Arthur Bell & Sons in 1933. Bell's blended whisky soon became one of the UK’s biggest whisky brands with Blair Atholl distillery becoming the heart of the blend and the Bell’s brand spiritual home.
The whisky: Most of the whisky produced here goes into the Bell’s blended Scotch but thankfully they keep some aside to make Blair Athol single malt. This is not a widely available single malt with just the 12-year-old released from the Diageo company’s iconic Flora and Fauna range. Some independent bottlings pop up all the time and are usually top whiskies. While Blair Athol is best known as the home of Bell's whisky, the single malt definitely deserves more praise.
Favourite dram: If you like the “sherried” style single malts then you must give the 12-year-old a go. It has a beautiful and bold fruit flavour with a hint of smoke on the nose, and is priced around £45.
Geek alert: Around 90 per cent of the Blair Athol malt whisky is created to go into Bell’s whisky and other blends. This malt whisky has been matured almost exclusively in ex-bourbon casks. However, the whisky that will be used for single malts often comes from sherry casks.
Why visit? – Pitlochry is my go-to Scottish town if I want to take guests who have not experienced Scotland before and don't particularly want to travel for five hours in a car up the A9. There's everything you need here for a proper taste of Scotland. The distillery is located on the main road and is a major visitor attraction for the town. A whole range of experiences is offered, from the standard tour, which will get you a guided tour of the distillery with a dram of Blair Athol single malt for £7.50, to the Manager's Selection Tasting tour which includes a private tutored tasting plus a selection of whiskies to try. This tour requires a pre-booking and will cost £55.
Interesting fact – Due to its convenient location, the visitor centre at the Blair Athol distillery attracts around 40,000 people each year, making it one of the most visited in Scotland.
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