Review #878 - ImpEx Collection Blair Athol 13 Year Single Cask
In June 2026, we attended a whisky tasting centered around the ImpEx Collection, a series of releases from small independent bottler ImpEx Beverages. This company is the importer for a number of spirits brands in the United States, including well-known single malt brands such as Ardnamurchan, GlenAllachie, Kilchoman, and many more.
This tasting covered the 5th edition of the ImpEx Collection, which is being released in 2026. While there are a couple of world whiskies and a rum included, this outturn mainly focuses on Scotch whiskies - that's what we looked at in our session. All of these releases bear markers of high quality: all non-chill filtered, there's no added color, everything is transparent about age and cask type, and everything is bottled at cask strength. There were six samples in this tasting - this review is one of those six.
Blair Athol, a Highland distillery, is a key piece of the Bell's blended Scotch whisky brand. They also bottle a limited amount of single malt; while most of their distillate destined for blends is matured in ex-bourbon barrels, the single malt-designated spirit is typically aged in sherry casks.
This example from ImpEx was aged in a first fill Oloroso sherry hogshead, so we're expecting some fruity and oaky notes. At the end of the 13 years of aging, the cask strength sat at 56.3% ABV, and a total of 234 bottles were yielded from cask #304172.
ImpEx Collection Blair Athol 13 Year Single Cask
Scotland/Highland - Single Malt
Price: USD 134 (2026)
Age Statement: 13 Years
Strength: 56.3% ABV
Cask Makeup: First fill Oloroso sherry hogshead
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; cask #304172; distilled December 31, 2011; bottled September 15, 2025; 234 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Starchy and a bit of a feinty note from the distillate here and there; then, strong oak notes and some waxy funk build. Oranges, brown sugar, and malty grain arrive, and it smells a bit musty; it's a bit of a challenging nose.
Palate: Oranges, juicy and rich, quite a dark complexion. Strong oak arrives, along with lots of tannins. The waxy notes return from the nose, and we get a little hint of funk in the background.
Finish: Oranges, especially blood oranges, along with some pomegranate and peach - it's growing more fruity. Vanilla and oak are accented by a savory note in the aftertaste, and it's quite warming.
Final Note: Like other Blair Athol whiskies that we've reviewed in the past, this spirit seems to take on very strong oak characteristics from the cask, even at ages of 10 to 13 years old. That said, it did get more fruity as the glass opened up over time, and more of that sherry character began to show. Strong wood spice and tannins, some interesting spirity funk on the nose - this one was unusual, but fun to dig into. We think this is a dram that needs time and plenty of attention if you want to get the most out of it.
We think value is mediocre here; it wasn't our favorite bottle of this series, and the price sits around $130.
Our Rating: 7.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.47
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Blair Athol reviews:
Review #803 - Brave New Spirits Blair Athol 13 Year Single Cask
Review #283 - SMWS Distillery 68 Rare Release 'Bake-Off' - Blair Athol 14 Year
