Bladnoch 1990 SMWS 27 Year Old 50.96

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.

This Bladnoch was distilled on the 26th January 1990 and laid to rest in an ex-Bourbon refill barrel for 27 years before it was bottled by SMWS. It is one of just 94 bottles.

Bladnoch is a Lowland distillery with a turbulent history. For the majority it struggled to remain open, changing hands on many occasions. Among the its former owners were Inver House and Bell's, who changed the style of the distillery's production to meet their needs, meaning there is a great variety in the flavours of both the distillery bottlings and independent releases that have appeared over the years.