Blackadder tasting session December 2024
Recently I had the opportunity to join a tasting session with Southport Whisky Club to look at the current range from Blackadder. A very interesting evening, with eight very different whiskies from across their current portfolio.
Blackadder describe themselves as “a family-run, independent bottling company, established in 1995 by Robin Tucek who now runs the business with his son, Michael, and daughter, Hannah.
All Blackadder whiskies are bottled as single cask and most at cask strength. And we absolutely never, ever, chill-filter or colour our whiskies”.
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Drop of the Irish - 46%
As is the case with a number of Blackadder bottlings, the focus of the Drop of the Irish range is on sourcing the spirit for the character and quality rather than the distillery itself. As a result, expressions in this range may come from a variety of sources. This example is from a single cask, bottled at less than 8 years old from an unnamed distillery.
Tasting notes
Nose: Light and fruity, leaning towards tropical.
Palate: Fresh, light and summery. Tropical fruit, caramel, honey, a touch of florality and black pepper. Water softens the spice a little, bringing creaminess and allows more of the fruit notes to come to the fore
Finish: Lingering, tropical fruit with nutty oak and warming pepper.
Overall: A pleasant whiskey, one which wouldn’t feel out of place on a warm summer evening.
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Red Snake - 60.6%
Blackadder describe Red Snake as “the sister to our Black Snake whisky. As with its older brother, Red Snake only comes from top-class, first-fill ex-Bourbon casks. However, unlike its brother, each Red Snake comes from just one single cask. Part of the enjoyment of Red Snake is the special cask finishes that we offer from time to time”.
Tasting notes
Nose: Soft, rounded notes of vanilla and caramel
Palate: Follows on from the nose with those familiar ex-Bourbon notes of vanilla cream and caramel sauce, together with a touch of coconut cream and a bite of chilli heat. A few drops of water lessens that heat and allows orchard fruit notes to make an appearance
Finish: Vanilla and caramel continue, together with chilli heat which gradually builds.
Overall: No indication of the distillery or region, but described as “Speyside style”. Everything you expect and want from a first-fill ex-Bourbon cask whisky, my preference was with a touch of water as it allowed more of the character to come through.
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Raw Cask Smögen 2012 10 year old - 61%
From a small Swedish distillery situated on the West Coast of Sweden, known for its robust flavours and use of heavily peated barley. This single cask whisky was matured in a first-fill ex-Bourbon cask.
The Raw Cask series are described by Blackadder as “whiskies from the old school, as they would have been drawn from a cask behind a bar in Scotland back in the 1800s. This was before whisky was chill filtered or heavily filtered – a process which removes a lot of the naturally-occurring oils and esters from the whisky, which is where the flavours are held. To prove that we do not filter our Raw Cask whiskies, you will discover some of the cask sediment in every bottle – this is our assurance of its completely natural and ‘raw’ state”.
Tasting notes
Nose: Big and bold, ashy bonfire smoke, barbecued pork, oily smoked mackerel, orchard fruit and a touch of caramel.
Palate: Sesame seed snap biscuits, red apples, charred pork ends, soft bonfire smoke , mild sea salt and a touch of peppery spice.
Finish: A warming mix of smoke, pepper and sesame oil
Overall: This was the first time I’ve tried anything from Smögen and I absolutely intend to make sure it won’t be my last. From the nose I was expecting a huge smoke-dominated whisky, instead the smoke played more of a supporting role on the palate, allowing that sesame seed element to really shine. This is a whisky that makes a statement, it demands your attention and keeps it. Is it obvious I absolutely loved this one yet?
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Statement Inchgower 1995 20 years old - 57.6%
“When we come across a whisky that is extra special, we bottle it under our Statement label. It is a step up from the Raw Cask range – the King of Kings!
This Inchgower was drawn from a single sherry butt”.
Tasting notes
Nose: Red berried fruits, Golden Delicious apples, marzipan, dried fruits and vanilla cream
Palate: Oily mouthfeel with a slight fizziness on the tongue, red berry sweetness, California raisins, honey, toasted almonds, mild oaky astringency and a touch of chilli heat. A few drops of water brings down the heat and adds more red fruit notes into the mix
Finish: The fruitiness gives way to honey, pink peppercorns and astringent nutty oak spice
Overall: One of those whiskies which benefits from a few drops of water to release all of the flavours that it has to offer.
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Sherry Snake - 57.3%
“Sharing the same heritage as our Black Snake and Red Snake whiskies, Sherry Snake is bottled from First Fill Sherry Butts. We wanted to have a fully Sherry-influenced Snake to complete our collection of superior malts supplied to us by our friends at one of Scotland’s most celebrated distilleries”.
Tasting notes
Nose: Dried fruit and nut assortment, unmistakeably sherried
Palate: Oloroso notes, nutty with dried fruit and a touch of chilli heat and astringency. Water softens some of the heat, allowing the dried fruit notes to take centre stage.
Finish: More of that chilli heat which builds, together with oaky astringency.
Overall: If you like sherried whiskies, this will be right up your street. Those typical notes are present in abundance. This one feels quite youthful with that fiery heat, but this can be soothed with a few drops of water.
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Black Snake Vat 4 6th Venom - 61.2%
“Black Snake is produced from a vatting of casks finished in a Single Butt. It starts its life in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks. We then put three of them into new Oloroso or PX butts and leave for around a year for further maturation before bottling two thirds of the cask. We call these “Vats” as they are a kind of mini Solera. After each bottling we add two more ex-Bourbon casks, always of the same whisky, and leave for around another year before again bottling two thirds of the Vat. All future bottlings from each vatting of Black Snake will therefore contain some spirit that was in previous expressions from the Butt. From time to time the Butt is renewed. Each edition bottling of Black Snake is called “Venom”, as in a snake’s poison. A touch of Blackadder humour! The first bottling from each Vat is called “First Venom”, the second “Second Venom” and so on”.
Tasting notes
Nose: Light, mild sherry notes
Palate: Youthful, soft notes of dried fruits and nuts, together with red apple skins and chilli heat. Water takes some of the heat away, allowing the light sherry notes to come through
Finish: Mild oaky astringency, wood spices and chilli heat.
Overall: Unsurprisingly youthful as this is a whisky bottled at around 5-6 years old. The sherry notes are light, suggesting this may be a vat coming to the end of its usefulness. It’s pleasant, especially with a little added water, but I think I would tend to go for a Vat 1 or 2 if I was going to purchase a bottle.
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Raw Cask English 2020 12yo - 64.7%
“We are very proud to be working with The English Whisky Co. – England’s oldest whisky distillery. Founded by the Nelstrop family in 2006, The English Whisky Co. built the beautiful St George’s Distillery specifically to make the very finest whiskies. The site is perfectly suited to whisky production, with the county of Norfolk being one of the world’s finest barley growing regions, coupled with the Breckland aquifer which can be found 50ft beneath the distillery providing a plentiful supply of crystal clear water”.
Peated to 63ppm and matured in a 2nd-fill Bourbon cask
Tasting notes
Nose: Dry wood smoke, orchard fruit and a touch of vanilla
Palate: Baked orchard fruit, honey and gentle bonfire smoke. A few drops of water brings out more of that soft smoke.
Finish: Dry, ashy smoke lingers together with a little chilli heat.
Overall: At 63ppm this must be at the top end of peated whiskies produced by the English Whisky Co. The end result is definitely smoky, more like a Ledaig type of peat smoke than a Islay but cleaner and less industrial. It’s a lovely whisky, and the bits of cask sediment floating in the glass just add to the experience.
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Raw Cask Peat Reek - Blended Islay 2012 10yo - 58.6%
“Peat Reek is the smell of burning peat, the flavours of which are imparted to malting barley as it is slowly dried while the smoky reek of the peat is drawn over it. For Blackadder Peat Reek, we select only casks of whisky produced using malted barley that has been heavily impregnated with the phenols and creosols of a gently-smouldering peat fire”.
Although Peat Reek are more often single malts, this bottling is a blended malt, peated to 30ppm and finished in an Oloroso cask
Tasting notes
Nose: Soft peat, caramel toffee sauce, heather honey and vanilla
Palate: Dry, slightly medicinal smoke, coastal brine, caramel, mild lemon citrus black pepper
Finish: Soft, ashy smoke continues on the palate with a touch of warming pepper
Overall: A very enjoyable Islay blend, with enough of that phenolic Islay character to keep me happy. I would perhaps have liked a little more, but that says more about me and it balances well with the sweet and citrus notes just as it is.
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Summary
This was the first time I’d had the opportunity to properly delve into the Blackadder range, and one I had really been looking forward to given the reputation they’ve developed over the years.
The main surprise for me was the relatively youthful nature of some of the whiskies, which on a couple of occasions did show through. The focus on a “regional style” rather than a named distillery is unusual, although it does give the drinker the chance to try something without any preconceptions.
In terms of price, I’d describe the range as fairly typical of high abv, no added colour and non-chill filtered whisky.
For me there were two real standout whiskies in the tasting session, the Raw Cask expressions from Smögen and English Whisky Co. Both excellent, with a lovely mouthfeel, plenty of peaty goodness and the presence of those cask sediment particles just made the overall experience even greater.
Although a close call, the Smögen won out on the night for me, and has managed to make it onto my list of distilleries to keep a look out for. Sadly, with being small batch the prices tend to be significantly higher, but the quality shown here would tempt me to push the boat out a bit further than I normally would.
A great tasting session, and a big thanks to Southport Whisky Club for organising. At the time of writing, many of these bottlings were still available on their online shop
If you would like more information on the Blackadder range, follow the link to the company website.
