Blair Athol 23-year-old (D.1989, B.2013) Jack Wiebers Scottish Castles Collection / 55.5%/ 0.7l

Jack Wiebers (Lars-Göran Wiebers) is a German whisky distributor (the company is registered as Jack Wiebers Whisky World).

He began his career in 1999 and soon gained a reputation as a great selector of whisky casks. The Scottish Castle Collection is a small series whose labels are decorated with illustrations of historic Scottish castles. The Blair Athol presented here recalls Crathes Castle, a 16th-century fortress built by the Burnetts of Leys in Aberdeenshire and owned by them for almost 400 years. Distilled in 1989, the whisky spent 23 years in cask no. 6510 and was bottled at 55.5% ABV in a limited edition of 180 bottles.

Aroma:  very friendly, malty and nutty, ripe apples and grapes, plums, vanilla cream, honey, shortbread biscuits, roasted nuts, notes of hay and oak.

Palate:  nicely balanced, roasted nuts and almonds, buttered toast, vanilla, apples, grapefruit, lemongrass, a pinch of ginger and toasted oak.

Finish:  long and warming, nutty, with notes of burnt toast, vanilla, oak and grapefruit.