This 12-year-old Blair Athol was drawn from a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel, giving the Highland spirit a direct and clearly defined cask profile. The bourbon cask supports the whisky’s natural weight with vanilla, orchard fruit, pastry sweetness and a touch of spice. Bottled from a single cask, this release favours balance over excessive oak influence.
Tasting notes
Vanilla
Orchard
Nose
Buttery shortbread, golden syrup, baked apples, vanilla, and a hint of white pepper.
Palate
Rich and syrupy with orchard fruits, pastry, iced buns, and a touch of lemon.
Finish
Long on brown-sugar apples with subtle oak.
The distillery
Blair Athol
Founded in 1798, Blair Athol Distillery is situated in the Perthshire town of Pitlochry and ranks among Scotland's oldest working distilleries. Much of its spirit plays an important role in Bell's Blended Scotch Whisky, while as a single malt it is known for a full-bodied Highland style.
Fed by water from the Allt Dour burn, Blair Athol combines unpeated malt with a relatively short fermentation and cloudy worts to build its nutty character. Short-necked stills contribute weight and a robust malt-forward style. Together, these production methods create a characterful spirit capable of developing considerable depth through maturation.
At Rare Find, we value the complexity this spirit can reveal through carefully selected casks, seeking out expressions where its natural weight and rich, nutty character are given the time and wood to develop into something deeper and distinctly individual.
Four distinct journeys of maturation. This latest Rare Find collection brings together four distinctive single casks that explore the relationship between spirit and wood across some of Scotland’s most compelling whisky styles.
The Highlands are Scotland's largest whisky producing region, covering a vast geographical area of the mainland along with many of Scotland's whisky producing islands. Distilleries are found across diverse landscapes, creating one of the most geographically varied whisky producing areas in Scotland.
Highland whiskies are known for their wide range of styles and flavour profiles. Expressions can vary from light and floral to rich, malty and coastal, reflecting both the broad geography of the region and the distinctive production methods of individual distilleries.
This versatility makes Highland whisky rewarding for independent bottling. Their broad spectrum of spirit styles responds exceptionally well to a variety of cask types, giving opportunities to explore the interplay between distillery character and cask influence.
Customer reviews
Full specification
Category
Single malt Scotch whisky
Distillery
Blair Athol
Region
Highlands
Country
Scotland
Age
12 years
Bottled
2026
Strength
56.1% ABV
Bottle size
70 cl
Original outturn
205 bottles
Cask number
448
Cask
1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel
More to explore
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