Chapter 7 Monologue 12 Year Old Blair Athol 2009 Wine Cask Scotch Whisky (700mL)

One of 258 bottles of this rare gem from Blair Athol.

The premise of Chapter 7 Whisky is simple — each cask of Whisky is unique. The wood, age, temperature, its location in the rick-house… everything tells its own story. Large Scotch producers marry casks in large vats before bottling so that the master blender can try to make them all taste the same. The folks at Chapter 7 Whisky think that’s a shame.

Chapter 7 is the brain-child of Selim Evin. He thinks that each cask should tell its own unique tale, so he travels to Scotland and Ireland to hand-select single casks from the inventories of the world’s greatest distilleries. Then he custom bottles each one with its own story. How many bottles, you ask? Well, until the barrel is empty.

Built in 1798 in Pitlorchy, Blair Athol is known for its nutty character that results from short fermentation and cloudy worts. They produce malts for Diageo, mostly Bell’s, and the majority of their juice ends up in Bourbon barrels. This makes Chapter 7 Monologue 12 Year Old Blair Athol 2009 Wine Cask all the more special. The cask used for ageing is thought to have been a 2nd or a 3rd fill, which makes the result super complex. With barley syrup, preserved fruits, muesli, fruit cereals, citrons, chalk, and lemon zest on the palate, this non-chill filtered beauty is a rare gem.