
June 19, 2026

WF's Little Duos,
today young Bladnoch
for the summer

We can all agree that whether Bladnoch is really a summer malt remains open to debate, especially when it’s been seasoned in a rather assertive wine cask. Let’s see what we’ve got in the pipeline…

Bladnoch 8 yo ‘American oak red wine’ (46,7%, OB, The Galloway Collection, double cask, 2025)

We can dream of a situation where these red wine-finished whiskies might kill two birds with one stone and solve the sluggish sales of both categories at once. Yeah, right... Colour: bronze amber. Nose: I sometimes say they handle red wine finishings better than they did twenty years ago, and here is the proof, even if we are drifting more towards plum preserves, or Vieille Prune, fig jam, and strawberry and apricot conserve dusted with cinnamon. What really matters, though, is that we avoid that overt red-berry profile, or... Beaujolais. Beyond that, we find speculoos and gingerbread. Mouth: fairly rich, with dried fruits and Christmas spices conjuring up thoughts of Stollen and, well, Christmas cake. I readily admit we seem to be a little out of sync with the seasons. A touch of bitter almond and Jägermeister, otherwise much the same preserves as on the nose. Finish: fairly long, with the bitters gradually taking command, rather in the style of Italian bitters, amaro, Montenegro and the like. Comments: certainly not a summer malt, very far from it indeed, but we do find it genuinely good.
SGP:651 - 85 points.

Bladnoch 7 yo 2018/2025 (58.8%, OB for Quaich Bar, oloroso hogshead, cask #735, 319 bottles)

A bottling released to celebrate Singapore's 60th anniversary. We have already tasted some excellent ones from this series, it must be said. Colour: amber. Nose: here we are in a very similar style, gloriously jammy, packed with dried fruits and Christmas pastry specialities, to the point where we might almost have guessed PX rather than oloroso. With water: a slight earthy edge emerges, alongside those inevitable walnut wines and walnut liqueurs. Now that's properly 'oloroso'. Mouth (neat): a full wheelbarrow of sultanas, just lightly dusted with pepper. Somewhat in the style of Dalmore's 'amoroso-ed' bottlings, with oranges quietly waiting in the wings. With water: the citrus fruits step forward, much to our delight. Oranges above all, including Seville oranges. A slender slice of cake studded with glacé cherries... our entire youth in a nutshell, isn't it. Finish: fairly long, rounded and rich, yet still lively enough, thanks to those oranges. Comments: a slight preference for this little beauty.
SGP:651 - 86 points.

Merry Christmas! Sorry, I mean happy summer! (At least in the Northern Hemisphere, ha...)

Check the index of all Bladnoch we've tasted

WF's Little Duos, today young Bladnoch for the summer

WF's Little Duos,
today young Bladnoch
for the summer