Berry Bros. & Rudd Blair Athol 14yo 2011 Cask #308064 & Berry Bros. & Rudd Spirit of Yorkshire 9yo 2017 Cask #2231

Berry Bros. & Rudd Blair Athol 14yo 2011 Cask #308064

Region: Highlands

ABV: 56.9%

Price: £85.00 

Distilled at Blair Athol in 2011 and bottled by Berry Bros. & Rudd in 2026 after 14 years of maturation, this single-cask release was finished in a Viognier wine cask. Cask #308064 produced 264 bottles and formed part of Berry Bros. & Rudd’s 2026 Odyssey Collection, under the The Auld & The Bold theme. 

Nose

The nose opens with green grapes, fresh linen, apple slices, butterscotch, and a little ground ginger. There's a bit of spice if we get deep into the glass, but the alcohol feels balanced overall. Going back, we're finding some richer caramel and toffee aromas, apricot jam, and something a little lactic, slightly blue cream cheese perhaps. 

Palate

The palate opens with apricots, moving into more tropical pineapple and mango purees, it's really fruit forward initially. There's also freshly squeezed apple juice, boiled sweeties and a little warm ginger and black pepper arriving on the finish. The mouthfeel is fine, not overly textured but there's enough viscosity to keep the dram interesting. Time and air brings more of a malty, bready profile, brioche loaves, moving into a menthol led finish.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose accentuates some of those more lactic, cheesy notes, but there's a sweeter undertone of honey and apricot jam still there to balance it out. Some of the spice has dampened, and it actually feels a bit more integrated (albeit, funkier).

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate continues with the tropical fruit, more pineapple led now, more apricots, and it feels juicier overall. The water really does open this dram up, and rounds out some of the rougher edges, so we'd recommend adding a drop or two.

Conclusion

A well done Blair Athol - a spirit that tends to be able to take more robust finishes but sometimes they don't always work out. Fortunately the wine has integrated nicely with the spirit, and it's got a mix of fruity notes with a malty character behind it. Solid whisky.

Score: 7/10

Value

A few quid more expensive than we'd like but it's reasonable for a 14yo Blair Athol.

Berry Bros. & Rudd Spirit of Yorkshire 9yo 2017 Cask #2231

Region: England

ABV: 57.1%

Price: £125.00 

Distilled at Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery in 2017 and bottled by Berry Bros. & Rudd in 2026 after 9 years of maturation, this single-cask English malt was drawn from ex-Moscatel sherry cask #2231 and produced 318 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with candied almonds and hazelnuts, copper coins, plums, dates and a little bit of sweet ginger juice. It's not overpowered with the wine, but it's definitely the predominant profile of the dram. We're also finding some chocolate orange notes - milky chocolate coins, orange oils and a little brown sugar appearing too. The alcohol feels generally well integrated, it's present but not overpowering.

Palate

The palate opens with orange peels, Irn-Bru, dark brown sugar, plums, and some overripe raspberries. There's a distinct note that reminds us of rum and raisin fudge, and we can't help think this is down to the distillation, perhaps a more esthery, rum-like spirit style. We're also getting copper, honey, peach ring sweeties and a little bit of candied ginger. It's really quite sweet, perhaps a bit too sweet for us, but there's a bit of warmth and sour citrus appearing on subsequent sips.  

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has a rich chocolate and honeycomb aroma, mixed with hazelnuts and a little bit of treacle toffee in the background. It feels like water has opened up some of the richer fortified wine aromas, but the lighter, fruiter notes have receded into the background.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate loses a little bit of texture, but also loses some of the alcohol bite. We're getting similar notes to the unreduced nose, rum and raisin ice cream, toffee, honeycomb, butterscotch and some orange juice right at the end. We'd say that the palate is a bit softer with water, but it hasn't destroyed the structure of the dram.

Conclusion

This is a really lively, juicy dram - chewy fortified wine mixed with a bright spirit is really quite pleasant. A tad warm in places, but it's a great example of what Spirit of Yorkshire can put out at 9 years old.

Score: 7/10

Value

It's expensive but not much more than comparable IB releases from this distillery.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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