Bladnoch 12 Year
2017 marked the 200th anniversary of Bladnoch. The southernmost distillery in Scotland, it was once known as “Queen of the Lowlands.” Living in the shadow of regional brethren Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie, it has closed several times due to a variety of circumstances. The current owner, David Prior, is the first Australian to own a Scottish whisky distillery. The latest relaunch in 2016 was aided by legendary Master Blender Ian MacMillan, which means this bottle of Bladnoch 12 contains product from an earlier period in the distillery’s storied history. This whisky comes with either the distillery on the label or a sheep (like ours).
Vicomte 8 Year
A decade or two ago, it might have seemed the very picture of strangeness to have the rise of French whiskies we’re seeing even though the country has long been a large consumer of scotch. The distillery itself is old but the company who owns it is based out of Florida, Venturi Brands. Unlike many current whisky companies, Vicomte and Venturi seem cloaked behind non-functioning websites and precious little information about the whisky beyond what is listed on the label. Though the Vicomte 8 Year was only released in 2015, so it remains to be seen whether it can break into the markets it desires. It is aged entirely in ex-Cognac barrels and the barley is from the Poitou-Charentes region.
J. P. Wiser’s 18 Year
J. P. Wiser was a Canadian businessman in the late 1800s who went about building a spirits company centered around whisky. A lot of the mythology around Wiser involves the dedication to the craft of making whisky, specifically that the time it takes to mature is more than worth it. Wiser’s company has been bought and sold a few times since he founded it and the brand is now part of the Hiram Walker portfolio, which in turn is part of the Pernod Ricard conglomerate. As with many, though not all, Canadian whiskies, any information about the blend or maturation is very difficult to come by.