Blair Athol New Crop Review 1996

Originally founded in 1798 as Aldour, Blair Athol was taken over by Arthur Bell & Sons in 1933 and has been a keystone malt for the Bell’s blend ever since. In 1985 Bell’s was bought by Guinness, with Blair Athol later becoming part of United Distillers and then Diageo in subsequent mergers. 

Blair Athol’s importance to Bell’s and other blends has resulted in limited official bottlings. Arthur Bell & Sons released Blair Athol as an 8-year-old and occasionally a 12-year-old from the late 1960s onwards; these were replaced in the late 1980s by a well-regarded sherried 12-year-old Flora & Fauna edition that has been the only ongoing bottling over the last few decades. Occasional one-off Blair Athols have been bottled for the Rare Malts, Manager’s Dram, Special Releases and the distillery’s Bicentenary. Independent Blair Athol is abundant.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.