Atholl Estates have announced the opening of a whisky exhibition at Blair Castle.
Whisky believed to be distilled almost 200 years ago and sipped by a young Queen Victoria has been found behind a hidden cellar door in Blair Castle. Understood to be the oldest known Scotch whisky in existence, it will soon be offered for sale at auction.
In late 2022, Bertie Troughton, Resident Trustee at Blair Castle in Perthshire, found a number of old bottles in an unassuming cellar room. Around 40 bottles of whisky were discovered at the back of a shelf which are believed to have been distilled in 1833 and bottled in 1841 (the whisky was then rebottled in 1932). In November, 24 bottles will be sold via Perth-based Whisky Auctioneer, the global market leader in the buying and selling of whisky and spirits at auction. The bottles were initially sampled by the family and a local whisky expert before Whisky Auctioneer was contacted. Since then, research in the archives of Blair Castle and Atholl Estates, alongside authentication of the whisky by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre via carbon dating supports its early 19th century origin.
Bertie Troughton, Blair Castle Resident Trustee said, “Blair Castle is fortunate to have one of the best archives of any historic house in Scotland and it’s been wonderful to see the story of these fabulous bottles come to life in the archives. Whisky has always been a huge part of the history of Blair Castle and we will be building an exhibition around the bottles we keep after the auction.”
Entry to the exhibition is free with a standard admissions ticket. Blair Castle is also offering a guided whisky tour, led by knowledgeable guides and finished with a whisky flight in the ballroom, where visitors can learn about the discovery of Blair Castle’s whisky, illicit distilling and whisky on Atholl Estates. The tour is available on Wednesdays and Sundays and lasts 1.5 hours and costs £50 per person.
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