5 Things You Might Not Know About Blair Athol Distillery

Nestled in Pitlochry lies Blair Athol Distillery, a longstanding producer of a wide variety of Scottish whiskies. Despite being a beloved single malt among whisky connoisseurs, the distillery modestly lingers in the background. Here are five things you may not know about Blair Athol.

The small town of Pitlochry in Perthshire teems surprisingly with whisky crafters. And it all began with Blair Athol Distillery. It first welcomed guests through its doors in 1798, while Edradour only opened in 1825.

Other local distilleries such as Dewar’s Aberfeldy (1896) and Dalwhinnie (1897) followed later, one after another.

The Great Depression took place in the 1930s. During this period, many whisky producers were struggling and numerous distilleries, including the small Blair Athol, had to shut their doors.

There wasn't enough capital for necessary maintenance, and the distillery had to close down. In 1949, Blair Athol was revived by Dewar’s.

Blair Athol whisky is known for its rich fruity taste with a subtle sprinkle of spices. This is due to the fermentation process the distillery employs.

The distillery typically allows the mash to ferment between 46 and 50 hours. That is significantly shorter compared to other Scottish distilleries that sometimes let their malt ferment a week or longer.

Occasionally, the fermentation is extended. Then, distillation waits for 104 hours.

Blair Athol has a distinctive work schedule. The distillery has a mashtun that processes 12 mashes per week. Distillation doesn't happen every day, but only 5 days a week, and not even a full working day.

They work from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon, up until lunchtime. Hence, no whisky is made in the Highland distillery over the weekends.

Blair Athol Distillery does produce its own whisky, but that is not the bulk of their production. A large portion (over 90 percent) of the spirit from this Scottish distiller goes into blends. Think of Johnnie Walker and Black & White whisky.

Perhaps you've heard of Bell’s Blends. Although the exact blend of this whisky is a secret, it is known that it incorporates Blair Athol and Dewar’s Aberfeldy whisky.

Blair Athol is one of the smaller distilleries of Diageo. The liquor maker once highlight all these distilleries in a nameless whisky series.

Blair Athol, Mannochmore, Glenlossie, Teaninich, and other bottles featured in this series. Each bottle had a relatively neutral label, with small images alongside the text. That eventually led to the series' name.

Whisky writer Michael Jackson wrote about the whiskies and named it the Flora & Fauna series.