I should have perhaps spread these reviews out a bit rather than doing them all consecutively but anyway…

This penultimate Bladnoch in this lowland marathon is the first of two Wave releases and both are special limited runs and not part of the core range which is what we have looked at up to now.

The Wave series was released in 2024 and is the first of a 5 bottle series with each bottle released annually. This means the final boss will be available in 2028.

The wave(s) are 5 Sherry Amontillado tuns which were all filled in 2022 with various existing barrels from the warehouses. Each release or wave will focus on a particular aspect of the distillery and whisky production.

This is a fairly common marketing story point just now for distilleries to home in on and various recent examples exist like the Laphroaig Strong Character series or Balvenie’s “The Stories” Collection. Both are good sets to explore as well as an aside. These bottles tend to be interesting, engaging and sometimes even affordable.

At £150 this Wave bottle is just about on the cusp of being affordable/not affordable and is available at cask strength, 57% ABV and its skipped chill-filtered and fake tanning.

The first release is basically the reference point for all the other releases so is a clean selection of ex-bourbon barrels fired into the tun and left for 2 years. This is the tun maturation in its singular form, there is no unusual cask influences, no special malt or anything additional in the experiment.

Wave II which has been released this year and is coming next will add a new element and 2 more years of time into the evolution.

Tasting Notes

Colour – orange but in the right light there is a red streak

Nose – Vanilla and honey, the tiny faint of a sweet raisin

Palate – Caramel and Mr Whippy. Even without a drop of water there is none of the harshness on some of the core range. This is balanced and mellowed with some good aged casks.

Finish – Long finish with grapefruit, wood sugars and bitter lemon

Final Thoughts

I still think £150 for a ex-bourbon concoction with a minimal sherry cask influence finish is punchy.

Can’t deny I’m interested to open the second tun sample though