SINGLE MALT WHISKY COILLTEAN 1989/2007 BLAIR ATHOL SEL. CASK N° 4812 - SAMAROLI

BOTTLE N° 0005 OF 364 BOTTLES PRODUCED

This is a single cask bottling from Blair Athol distillery was bottled in Scotland in November 2007 from cask #4812.

Samaroli is perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), he is regarded by many as a visionary. Many of his bottles now occupy deserved sports on the pantheon of whisky greats

Coilltean was originally a label devised by Samaroli to give more variety to his portfolio after over-purchasing cask of Glen Garioch. By the early 2000s he was using many distilleries to bottle Coilltean, and now disclosing their names. These are some of the first releases to bear the contentious "refined in side the bottle since..." text, that the Scotch Whisky Association abhored, but Silvano full believed in.

Blair Athol distillery is one of Scotland's oldest, dating back into the late 18th century. Its modern story begins when it was closed down by Peter Mackenzie in 1932, and was purchased by Arthur Bell & Sons the following year. Distilling recommenced in 1949, and with Blair Athol malt at its heart, Bell's became one of the world's best-selling whiskies. Despite its importance to the blend, Blair Athol was also bottled as a single malt under the Bell's banner in the 1970s and 1980s. New owners, Guinness, were less interested in this when they took over in 1985, but their subsequent iteration, United Distillers, brought a back distillery bottling with the Flora & Fauna release. Despite its popularity, Blair Athol has yet to be bottled under its own single malt brand. Other official bottlings from the Diageo era are very rare too, however the distillery has regularly provided casks to independent companies, many of whom have bottled some exceptional releases.