Blackadder and Clydesdale to Norway

Rejoice, for the age of the snake of the color black is upon us! I am happy to announce that the Norwegian (whisky) importer Terroir Wines will be representing independent bottlers Blackadder and Clydesdale Original. A bit of background history is in order, I think. Robin Tucek used to work as an author and journalist, for Drinks International among several others. Around 1996 he started out as an Independent Bottler, with the brand Blackadder. He is a big fan of Rowan Atkinson, and just loved the name Blackadder apparently. Well, it is a quirky and cool name and logo, in my opinion.

Robin was one of the very first to drop chill-filtration and artificial coloring in whisky. He also strongly advocates giving the end consumer whisky in the bottle as close as possible to what it was on the cask (see below for more).

About the same time as Robin started Blackadder, Thomas Sundblom started collecting whisky privately. The selection of whisky available to buy in Sweden was rather limited back then. Robin was one of the first to offer his whisky for sale online, and Thomas became an early customer. A year or so later the two met at the whisky bar Akkurat in Stockholm, where Robin was doing a whisky tasting. Robin and Thomas became friends, and have remained good friends since.

Over the years Robin used different importers to bring his whisky into Sweden, but he was not too happy with any of them. Then in 2006 Robin and Thomas decided to establish Clydesdale AB together, with a 50/50 ownership. Clydesdale would import Blackadder whisky and a few other brands to Sweden. Since then the number of brands have increased, and Clydesdale is now well-known in the Nordic whisky market as a major importer. Robin and Thomas also started the independent bottler Clydesdale Original together - a company located in Scotland.

Blackadder is most know for their RAW CASK series, which is rather cool. You literally get the whisky quite 'raw', with sediments and everything. Here is Robin's own description of it:

Blackadder does not believe in chill-filtering or in colouring whisky. We believe that the purest is the best. Quite simply,Blackadder RAW CASK is every bit a Blackadder whisky but even more so. We use a special bottling process to make sure that each and every bottle of Blackadder RAW CASK contains its own share of the cask sediments as well as natural oils and fats that might otherwise be left behind when filling a cask strength whisky straight from cask. This ensures the maximum possible natural flavour is in each and every bottle.

The only thing we do when bottling is to use a small filter to ensure that splinters of wood from the cask do not inadvertently pass into the bottle. We think that such things are best avoided. Blackadder RAW CASK is therefore single malt whisky as it always used to be drunk when it was often sold from small barrels kept behind the bar.

In January 2015 we will see the release, in Norway, of the first four expressions from this new cooperation. The whiskies are:

• Bowmore 2001 13 YO Cask #20064 Blackadder Raw Cask
• Clynelish 1995 18 YO Cask #1471 Blackadder Raw Cask ( see review)
• Glen Ord 1996 15 YO Clydesdale (see review)
• Blackadder Peat Reek Raw Cask (see review and review of older batch)

Reviews will of course appear as soon as we get our hands on these whiskies. In the meantime enjoy our many reviews of older Blackadder bottlings.

2014-12-22: Updated with info on Clydesdale Original, making the distinction between the two Clydesdale companies a bit clearer.

Sláinte! - Thomas