Scotland, Lowlands. Distillery operational. Owner: David Prior

Located in the extreme south-west Lowlands, not far from the English border, Bladnoch has always had its gaze set on Belfast (Ireland), which stands not far away. This attraction is also part of its past, with its founders, the McClellands, teaming up with the Belfast company Wm Dunville & Co in 1911. Closed from 1938 until 1956, it was then traded between Inver House Distillers Ltd, Arthur Bell & Sons and, finally, United Distillers, companies for which it produced a whisky primarily used for the groups' blends. Up until the mid-1990s, its own bottlings were rare. United Distillers, however, incorporated it into its two flagship ranges of the time, The Rare Malts Selection and Flora & Fauna, but later decided to close the site in 1993. In 1994, Raymond Armstrong, of Northern Ireland, offered to buy the distillery to create a cultural centre. Despite a clause limiting production to 100,000 litres of spirit per year signed upon purchase, in 2000 he decided to re-launch production and soon released many new bottlings of Bladnoch.

A Bladnoch 23 year old distilled in 1977 and bottled at cask strength in 2001 for the Rare Malts series. Created in the mid-1990s by United Distillers (Diageo), the Rare Malts series features bottlings from many of the group’’s distilleries, including some of the lesser known whose production was generally used for blends, as well as closed distilleries such as Port Ellen and Brora. Bottled at cask strength, the whiskies in the range are also known for their sometimes astounding alcohol content, often exceeding 60% ABV. The Rare Malts range was discontinued in 2005.