2009 Blair Athol, AD Rattray 11 yo 55.9%

There’s a touch of peat here; the sweet fruit character is balanced by briny, smoky notes that evoke the kipper shanties on Arbroath seafront. Kippers and quince may sound like an odd combination, but this is a fabulous food whisky for your haggis or your cottage pie. Blair Athol Distillery stands at the confluence of the Kinnaird Burn (from which it draws its water) and the River Tummel, just south of the Pass of Killiecrankie where the Highlands really get going. It’s a landscape redolent with Jacobite associations, so for anyone who wants to toast the King Over The Water, this may be your malt. It’s also an intensely good (if unusual) example of what a southern Highland malt can be. (NT 01/04/21)