Pure Scot Signature Blended Whisky

I'm not sure what to anticipate. I've heard a range of opinions, but Bladnoch typically does well with their single malts, so I'm hoping their blends are also good. Nose: Quite sharp and a little savory. I detect some lemon, tangerine, and dry spice, but not much wood. A hint of smoke, some vanilla, and a little lemon blossom. Perhaps some dry mineral? Sadly, there's not much here, making it difficult to discern anything specific. It has a nose with character, but not entirely pleasant character. It definitely smells like something you'd pour from a cheap bottle under $20. The floral notes (I'm picking up tangerine blossom now after it's sat for about 10 minutes) and slightly rich aromas are nice, but it still smells generic, muddled, and uninviting. Palate: Lemon and spice come through first, with an unfortunate level of sharpness and a fair amount of alcohol flavor on a somewhat creamy base. The lemon occasionally turns into citron with a bit of artificial sweetener, followed by some savory malt. There's some smoke and an herbal flavor that even borders on the unique profile of Copper Fox Rye, which makes sense given the grain and malt combination. It tastes very young and not very malty. The flavor is light, and nothing here is very substantial. There are several flavors that don't quite harmonize, though some sweet, nectar-like notes are promising. The harshness is a significant issue, though. It really burns, and there's also sulfur. Finish: Dry with artificial sweetener and citron. It reminds me a bit of that citron-flavored vodka. It also burns and has sulfur. The harshness really stands out on the finish, making it feel like my tongue is being slightly stripped. Sadly, this seems worse than I feared. It's not just the weak flavor, or the sulfur, or the young taste, or the weak malt. It's also quite harsh. The flavor is better than Grant's because it has significantly less sulfur, but it's not quite as good as Sir Edward's 12 and it's not as smooth as either. I'd say that places it about even with Grant's. This is a rather poor quality scotch if it weren't for the harshness, but the harshness is quite significant. It's actually painful to drink. It has the sharpness of something at 60% alcohol even though it's the minimum 40%. I might actually pay a small amount to avoid having to drink this due to that harshness. The flavor is much better than Glen Logie's, and the drink as a whole is substantially better, but we're talking low benchmarks here: Glen Logie costs 1/5 of this. At times, it feels like drinking paint stripper. Grant's is marred by that sulfur, and I'd say the flavors here are executed better, but it's still a less complex and harsher dram. Because of the harshness, I can't even give it away to someone who doesn't know good scotch. Sir Edward's 12 still has a stranger profile with its oiliness, but it's more complex and its flavors are still decent, so I'd say it's superior. This is either at the level of Grant's or a step above, but it's not as good as Sir Edward's. That would put it at a 7 to 8. I'd say the alcohol harshness is substantial enough that this aligns with Grant's quality, making it a 7.

When sampling a new spirit, past experiences often guide my tasting impressions and overall appreciation. The scent of freshly baked cookies, camping excursions with the aroma of pine trees while toasting marshmallows, the smell of new tires, running shoes, or even hospital visits following a moment of over-exuberance requiring stitches, evoking the scent of fresh bandages and antiseptics. This particular spirit brings back vivid childhood memories of family gatherings. My family's reunions typically involved a trip to Kansas. While there's nothing inherently wrong with Kansas, enduring a July family reunion in scorching heat with over a hundred relatives congregating outdoors presented a challenge. Already feeling overheated and uncomfortable, the added obligation was to spend time with an aunt or uncle who desired interaction. Unfortunately, this relative wasn't the charismatic or entertaining type, making the prospect of conversation either daunting due to their eccentricities or simply dull. Consequently, the responsibility fell upon me to engage, essentially acting as a decoy to spare the rest of the family. It turns out this spirit isn't the one prone to rambling about conspiracies, but rather the profoundly uninteresting relative whose conversation induces a near-comatose state, only for you to reawaken hours later. This spirit begins with an uninspired nose, lacking distinct flavor, much like that relative starting a story about a dentist visit, complete with the smell of disinfectant. The taste mirrors this dullness, as the relative drones on about the water used for rinsing at the dentist's office, comparing its diluted nature to the water of their youth. As this tedious discussion about the evolution of dental rinse water continues, your hope for an end to this monotonous and uneventful narrative seems to be fulfilled when the relative, seemingly bored by their own story, drifts into brief moments of sleep, leaving no remarkable conclusion to this dreadfully bland tale or dram. This spirit is precisely that: an incredibly dull, watery narrative devoid of flavor or finish, except for a minor burn. I wouldn't be surprised if a friend had given me some diluted bottom-shelf vodka, colored yellow, and labeled it as a jest. Sadly, if this isn't a joke, its cost of around $50 seems as regrettable as the money spent on poorly designed family reunion t-shirts that everyone received, preventing the family from affording ice cream at a special creamery due to prioritizing the purchase of these unattractive shirts from a forgettable event.

Nose: Weak and grainy. A reserved nose that needs time to open up, yet never gains significant presence. It also possesses a peculiar artificial quality - somewhat sugary, but not quite. It resembles a weak herbal tea with an entire bottle of artificial sweetener added. The empty glass is more pleasant than the drink itself, with a faint hint of smoke barely perceptible in the far distance. Palate: Gentle, sweet heat upon entry, lacking distinct character. Some grainy, malty notes are present but are very subdued. There's no noticeable evolution, but that strange sweetness reappears. The texture is insubstantial, thin, and watery. One gets the impression it's so diluted that the only flavor detected is vague caramel from added E150a. Finish: Brief. Minimal lingering taste beyond some diluted grain sweetness. Given the distillery owner is Australian, it's understandable that it's being imported here. This is an underperforming blended scotch with minimal activity. The nose primarily smells of diluted grain whisky. You catch an occasional suggestion of malt whisky, very faint, in the far distance. The palate is similarly sparse, with only a few background cereal flavors to distinguish it from vodka. There's hardly any finish at all. Strangely, it's almost pleasant due to its sweetness, lack of complexity, and ease of drinking, but there's no satisfaction derived from this dram. At its current price, the value is terrible, and it's a significant disappointment. The only positive comment I can offer is the absence of noticeable flaws. I'm uncertain of the objective behind this ultra-bland blend from [producer name]. "Inferior": 67/100 (1.5 stars)

Since David Prior, an Australian surfer, acquired Bladnoch in 2015, this Lowland Distillery's entire image has been revamped, and they've released a blended scotch in a lovely, heavy bottle called "Pure Scot." This is the "signature" expression and has recently earned numerous awards. While the label states it contains whiskies from across Scotland, their primary malt is naturally Bladnoch. Bottled at 40% ABV, tawny color. On the nose, it's very sweet and minty. Butterscotch is the dominant aroma, along with dulce de leche, chocolate, and a pleasant note of mint liqueur. It's quite herbal, like lemon verbena or chamomile tea. After a few sips, the grain whisky in the blend became apparent, with a decent maize note. On the palate, it's a very delightful dram. Again, that fancy butterscotch, some bee honey, a Milka chocolate bar, toffee, and Danish cookies. A second sip revealed vanilla, a hint of pepper, and maize. Very enjoyable. Aftertaste is slightly peaty. Salt, burnt hay, puffs of aromatic smoke, and Danish cookies (the salty kind). Not very long. Overall, for a blended NAS whisky, this is certainly competitive with Chivas XV and Johnnie Walker Gold Label due to its flavor profile. As it's new but visually appealing (the bottle, that is), it should be considered a step below those two, but many steps above the classic 12-year-old blends. My rating for it is a fair 83 out of 100.

Nose - pear, honey, malty cereal, stale fungal notes, stale bread, sour apple, floral notes, light peach, lemon pith, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sour apple, pear, lemon rind, floral tea, grainy malt, stale bread, banana, bitter oak, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing fast and thin with bright, young alcohol, sour fruit, and bitter citrus pith flavors. There's really nothing good going on here. It tastes young, bitter, sour, and stale all at the same time. It’s a step up from the Grangestone sherry cask finish and some of the Canadian whiskies I’ve endured, but that’s not saying very much. I’d rate this about the same as JW Red, but I think the Johnnie Walker is slightly better. And I'm just noticing that this is close to $50 a bottle near me, more than double the JW. Wow, this is a contender for the worst value liquor I’ve reviewed. In the $50 price range, I’d recommend just about any other blended scotch, or some really solid single malts. Thank you to the provider of the sample. It’s just as useful to learn what you don’t like as it is what you do.

The aroma is sweet and heavily features citrus and apple. The flavor is similar, arriving quite sweet, perhaps a bit excessively so, with an addition of caramel. The finish leaves you with the impression of biting into a caramel apple at a fair. It's quite smooth and pleasurable, though it borders on being overly sweet.