Mossburn Blair Athol 10YO 2007 Cask Strength

This 10 year old Blair Athol single malt comes from the independent bottler Mossburn’s cask strength collection. This small batch whisky was distilled in 2007 and bottled 30th of November 2017.

The bottler is called Mossburn – Distillers & Blenders (MBD). They have Vintage Casks collections from various distilleries, this being Vintage Cask No. 3. According to Whiskybase, this Blair Athol 2007 is their highest rated whisky (situation in 15/11/2019).

As mentioned, the malt comes from Blair Athol distillery, located in the South Highlands and known for being the home of the Bell’s blended Scotch brand.

Matured in a refill Hogshead (Ex-Sherry?) casks, bottled at whopping alcohol by volume of 59,8%!

Mossburn Blair Athol 10 Year Old 2007 Cask Strength Single Malt Review

Tasty experience

I really liked this whisky. Like the numbers suggest, this whisky offered a full, rich and powerful experience of aromas and taste. Small batch cask strength with such a high ABV, and 10 years of maturation. Those statistics already tell you that this has to be quality whisky.

Of course the malt, distillation and wood quality will determine the quality of the end product, no matter how long you mature it and how much alcohol you have in the end product. But all I can say is that this dram has all those ingredients nicely in balance.

Matured in:

Hogshead casks (couldn’t find information on the type of the cask)

ABV: 59.8%

Colour: Sunlight

Non-chill filtered, no added colour

Nose: Acid and sweet – fresh lemony notes combined with sugary sherry. Addition of water brings out ginger and orange peel, along with fresh sugared barley and herbal notes.

Taste: Spicy, sweet and mellow. Like herbal tea with spices and dash of citrus added. Bit creamy as well. Water adds honey and makes the citrus notes stronger. And adds even some cherry notes.

Finish: Caramel and spices. Black pepper and sugared cereal. Cardamom notes come in very late in the aftertaste. Water adds lots of acid and slightly bitter red berry notes and brings out even more pepper.

Balance: Great cask strength whisky. Offers fresh quality notes of sweet sherried whisky.