A 20th century blend nurtured by Macdonald & Muir that was eventually withdrawn in 2014.
Bailie Nicol Jarvie is a brand of whisky which was blended by The Glenmorangie Company in Scotland. It was a blend originally created in the late 19th century by wine merchant Nicol Anderson, and later produced by Macdonald & Muir – the original name for The Glenmorangie Company – which claimed it had the ‘highest malt content of any blended Scotch whisky’.
Anderson named the blend after one of the central characters in Walter Scott’s 1819 novel, Rob Roy – a patriotic Glaswegian magistrate and merchant and example of the Lowland gentry. BNJ, as it was colloquially known, was a full, rich blend composed of Islay, Highland and Speyside malts along with Lowland grain. It is a blended Scotch whisky, which has a good following in Scotland, but is relatively unknown in other parts of the world.
Bailie Nicol Jarvie (STK0001)
NOSE
Sharp! Lemon and fresh barley notes dominate with some honeyed and fruity elements lurking behind - could be pineapple.
TASTE
Tart! The bitterness of the citrus zest battles it out with honey on buttered toast. I also detected ginger and almonds. The smoke comes through later to dry things out with the finish being a ballet of sweet honey notes and lip smacking dryness with light smoke .
It's hard to describe how succulent this whisky is. Although light (a characteristic of Glenmorangie of course) the mouthfeel is butyric and the lemon notes just cut right through everything making one simply salivate. Very, very drinkable and incredible value.