Bell's
The UK’s best-selling blended Scotch.
Blair Athol
Distillery & brand
A member of the ‘nutty-spicy’ camp which defined the old Bell’s distilleries, Blair Athol takes the first part of the descriptor to its boldest expression.
Blair Athol distillery
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Cloudy worts and a short fermentation time give the nutty base, but it is distillation which adds real weight to the distillate. A controlled level of solids coming across in the wash still add a rich, deep, malt-loaf character to the new make. It is this character which allows it to show so well in ex-Sherry, although for blending purposes the majority of the make is destined for ex-Bourbon.
Blair Athol History
The central Perthshire town of Pitlochry sits on the banks of the River Tay and has had a distillery since 1798, making its plant one of the oldest legal whisky-making sites in Scotland. The original distillery was named Aldour after the burn which supplied it with process water, but changed its name to Blair Athol [after a village seven miles to the north] in 1825. This could conceivably have been to sweeten the Duke of Athol who owned the land
It became part of the Peter Mackenzie blending house in 1886, but like many distilleries suffered during the economic troubles of the 1930s and fell silent between 1932 and 1949. In the interim period however Mackenzie (and its estate, which also included Dufftown distillery) had been bought by Perth-based blender, Arthur Bell & Sons.
By the 1970s, Bell’s was being built into the UK’s top-selling blended Scotch and, as a result, Blair Athol was doubled in capacity. Guinness (which bought Bell’s in 1985, and after further mergers evolved into Diageo) opened a visitor’s centre in 1987.
In an attempt to tap into the then infant single malt market, Bell’s bottled it as an eight-year-old in the 1980s, but in the Diageo era it has only appeared as a member of the Flora & Fauna range (at 12 years of age), matured in first-fill ex-Sherry casks.
Timeline
- 1798 Aldour distillery founded by John Stewart and Robert Robertson in Pitlochry
- 1825 The distillery name is changed to Blair Athol after a nearby village
- 1826 The Duke of Atholl leases the distillery to Alexander Connacher & Co
- 1860 Ownership is passed onto Elizabeth Connacher
- 1886 Blair Athol is purchased by Peter Mackenzie, future founder of Dufftown
- 1932 Blair Athol falls silent
- 1933 Peter Mackenzie & Co, along with Blair Athol, is purchased by Arthur Bell & Sons
- 1949 Production restarts at the distillery once again
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- 1973 Production capacity is expanded from two stills to four
- 1985 Guinness buys Arthur Bell & Sons
- 1987 Blair Athol’s visitors’ centre built
Blair Athol Facts
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- Condenser Type i
- Shell and tube
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- Fermentation Time i
- Maximum 50hrs
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- Filling Strength i
- 63.5%
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- Grist Weight (t) i
- 8.2
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- Heat Source i
- Steam
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- Malt Specification i
- Unpeated
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- Malt Supplier i
- Mostly in-house
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- Mash Tun Type i
- Lauter
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- New-make Strength i
- 67%
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- Spirit Still Charge (l) i
- 11,500
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- Spirit Still Shape i
- Plain
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- Stills i
- 4
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- Wash Still Charge (l) i
- 14,000
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- Wash Still Shape i
- Plain
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- Washback Type i
- 4 wood, 2 steel
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- Washbacks i
- 6
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- Water Source i
- Kinnaird Burn
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- Wort Clarity i
- Cloudy
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- Yeast Type i
- Creamed
Owners
Current owner
- Diageo 1997 - present
Previous owners
- Arthur Bell & Sons 1933 - 1997
- Peter Mackenzie & Co 1886 - 1933
- Peter Mackenzie 1882 - 1886
- Elizabeth Connacher 1860 - 1882
- Alexander Connacher & Co 1852 - 1860
- Peter Fraser & Co 1829 - 1842
- Alexander Connacher & Co 1827 - 1829
- James Robertson 1825 - 1826
- John Stewart and Robert Robertson 1798 - 1825
Contact
- Address
-
Blair Athol Distillery
Perth Road
Pitlochry
Perthshire
PH16 5LY
United Kingdom - Phone
- +44 1796 482003
- Visitor Opening Hours
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- Monday
- 10am to 5pm. Open until 6.30pm (June-Sept)
- Tuesday
- 10am to 5pm. Open until 6.30pm (June-Sept)
- Wednesday
- 10am to 5pm. Open until 6.30pm (June-Sept)
- Thursday
- 10am to 5pm. Open until 6.30pm (June-Sept)
- Friday
- 10am to 5pm. Open until 6.30pm (June-Sept)
- Saturday
- 10am to 5pm. Open until 6.30pm (June-Sept)
- Sunday
- 10am to 5pm. Open until 6.30pm (June-Sept)
Closed on 19 May, 25 December and 1 Jan
Map
See also
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Brand
-
Brand
Teith Mill
This 1970s blended Scotch featured some of the first whisky to be distilled at Deanston.