{"product_id":"bladnoch-34-year-old-1990-smws-single-ex-bourbon-cask-50-119-gallovidian-rhapsody-lowland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2024-70cl","title":"Bladnoch 34 Year Old 1990 SMWS Single Ex Bourbon Cask 50.119 Gallovidian Rhapsody (Vaults Collection) Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024) 70cl","description":"\u003ch2\u003eBladnoch 34 Year Old 1990 SMWS Single Ex Bourbon Cask 50.119 Gallovidian Rhapsody (Vaults Collection) Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024) 70cl\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 of 235 bottles produced from a double bourbon finished cask.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eScotch Malt Whisky Society\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by Phillip 'Pip' Hills who, while travelling around Scotland in the 1970s, fell in love with whiskies drawn straight from the cask. After he expanded his syndicate the Society was purchased by Glenmorangie PLC in 2004. In 2015, the Society was sold back to private investors. In June 2021, the private owners floated the holding company The Artisanal Spirits Company plc on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has a unique code system where the first number refers to the distillery and the second refers to the cask from which the bottle comes. SMWS also offers the largest range of distilleries of any independent bottler. These curiously named drams really do have something for every whisky lover!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMothballed in 2009, Bladnoch distillery got a stay of execution when it was purchased by Australian yoghurt tycoon David Prior. The distillery (near Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway) was what you would call “a bit of a fixer upper”; but after extensive renovations, production finally resumed in summer 2017, and three stylishly rebranded expressions were bottled from existing stock.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs well as holding the title for most southerly Scottish distillery, Bladnoch is also one of the oldest, and it seems rather poetic that its phoenix-like resurrection takes place during its bicentennial year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTASTING NOTES\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView bottle js_itemPageProfile flavour-default\" data-categories='[\"No Menu Link\/Bottle Archive\"]'\u003e\n\u003carticle class=\"productView-description\" id=\"productView-description\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA complex orchestration of honeysuckle, pomegranate and earl grey tea harmonised with sizzling pork chops, glazed with manuka honey and served with sweet apple sauce on an antique writing desk. Base notes of candied orange peel, smashed hazelnuts and virgin olive oil created rich yet silky textures that perfectly carried the other flavours. A small dash of water established an ensemble of sweet ginger wine, maple syrup and marmalade, alongside a quartet of cassia bark, marzipan, Christmas cake and pineapple flambéed in armagnac. The sticky, syrupy notes reached a delightful crescendo before an encore of dark chocolate, toasted almonds and tobacco. At 28 years of age, we combined selected casks from the same distillery. We then returned the single malt into a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout Bladnoch\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was 1817 when John and Thomas McClelland took out a licence to make whisky on their farm in the hamlet of Bladnoch near Wigtown in the far south-west of Scotland. It stayed in family ownership until 1905, when it was one of many stills to close during a period of over-supply and low sales.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBladnoch is not far from the sea crossing between Stranraer and Larne and twice in its history its saviours have come from Northern Ireland. The first of these was Belfast distiller Dunville \u0026amp; Co. which owned the Royal Irish distillery. It bought Bladnoch in 1911 and continued production – albeit intermittently – until 1937. At that point, Dunville’s directors were spooked by (Scottish-based) DCL's declaration that Irish whiskey had no future. After DCL turned down the chance to buy the firm, it went into liquidation, despite being profitable and having stock. Bladnoch was closed once more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorse was to follow. Its new owner, Ross \u0026amp; Coulter, sold off Bladnoch’s mature stock and sent the distilling equipment to Sweden – and so the story continues, with owners coming and going at rapid rate. Bladnoch reopened in 1956, was expanded to four stills in 1966, became part of Inver House for a decade, and then in 1983 was bought by Arthur Bell \u0026amp; Son. After Bell’s was taken over it was folded into Guinness\/UD (now Diageo) and production once again slowed. In 1993, it was officially decommissioned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe year after, however, two brothers from Northern Ireland bought it with the initial idea of turning the extensive site into a holiday village. A change of heart soon after saw them wishing to start making whisky again – contrary to the terms of sale. It took six years to persuade Diageo to allow them to make 100,000 litres a year – below capacity and as it turned out right on the limits of profitability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost of the distillery’s income came from tourism, events and the extensive warehousing rented out to other producers. Production remained intermittent with mothballing taking place in 2009\/10. In 2014, the brothers placed it into administration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn July 2015 Australian businessman David Prior, along with ex-Scotch Whisky Association CEO, Gavin Hewitt, announced the purchase of Bladnoch and plans to restore the distillery to its former glory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAhead of its reopening in 2017, three single malts created using existing stocks of Bladnoch (Samsara, Adela and Talia), were released in limited quantities in Australia, the UK and other global markets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduction at Bladnoch officially restarted in June 2017, with the flow of a grassy, malty Lowland-style spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e53.6% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bladnoch","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55005650714962,"sku":"BLN34SMWS50.119","price":725.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/Bladnoch34YearOld1990SMWSSingleExBourbonCask50.119GallovidianRhapsody_VaultsCollection_LowlandSingleMaltScotchWhisky_2024_70cl.jpg?v=1791575497","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/bladnoch-34-year-old-1990-smws-single-ex-bourbon-cask-50-119-gallovidian-rhapsody-lowland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2024-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}