The Dragon Series is a collection of five exceptional single malt whiskies that celebrate the natural unpredictability and captivating beauty of the whisky making craft. Each Iteration in the series captures a pivotal moment in the whisky making process, showcasing its unique and unpredictable character.
Drawing parallels with Whisky production, The Dragon Series showcases the scale of variability encountered throughout the process, which is seemingly chaotic and unpredictable. However, using the skills, knowledge and experience of the craftsman of today, and of those before us, the final whisky always become beautiful through each of these golden iterations.
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The full Collection consists of the five expressions - I The Field, II The Spirit, III The Casks, IV The Ageing and V The Decision. Each Iteration in the series captures a pivotal moment in the whisky making process, showcasing its unique and unpredictable character.
Drawing parallels with Whisky production, The Dragon Series showcases the scale of variability encountered throughout the process, which is seemingly chaotic and unpredictable. However, using the skills, knowledge and experience of the craftsman of today, and of those before us, the final whisky always become beautiful through each of these golden iterations.
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Iteration V focuses on Whisky making in the sample room, where the decisions are made for our final products. All variability and unpredictability is considered at the bench, protecting tomorrows interests, whilst balancing todays needs for a consistent and sustainable experience for everyone. Taking the full complexity encountered to date, and simplifying it in these final steps. With innovation opportunities and the skills to build flexibly maturing stocks, the variability and unpredictability of everything in the process curve to this point, should not be noticed by anyone if we make the right decisions.
CRUSHED GRAPES, COFFEE CRÈME, APRICOTS
Nose: Crushed red grapes with coffee cremes
Palate: Coffee crème’s with apricots and a hint of nutmeg
Drawing parallels with Whisky production, The Dragon Series showcases the scale of variability encountered throughout the process, which is seemingly chaotic and unpredictable. However, using the skills, knowledge and experience of the craftsman of today, and of those before us, the final whisky always become beautiful through each of these golden iterations.
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Iteration IV focuses on the longest, the most complex and least understood process of maturation. Casks filled with new make spirit undertake years and decades of interactions with their environment, building an unpredictable structure for the whisky to come. Those who lay the casks down, pass them to a future generation, who will be the custodians of the results. The seasonal cycling of temperature and humidity, warehouse type and location, combining with the angels, to give us significant complexity to manage. Casks have been sought from the darkest, coldest locations in Bladnoch’s warehousing to amplify these effects in the Iteration IV.
BLACKBERRIES, EARTHY, HONEY
Nose: polished oak and honey inside an earthy warehouse
Drawing parallels with Whisky production, The Dragon Series showcases the scale of variability encountered throughout the process, which is seemingly chaotic and unpredictable. However, using the skills, knowledge and experience of the craftsman of today, and of those before us, the final whisky always become beautiful through each of these golden iterations.
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Iteration III in the series showcases another primary source of variability within the parallel process of cask coopering. The coopering of our casks has to consider a multitude of variables, ranging from oak species and the growth environment, through to the technical challenges of toasting, charring and seasoning. All of which can have a significant butterfly effect on our final whisky if the natural chaos within is not crafted by the Cooper.
POPCORN, SPICE, RICH
Nose: Cinnamon sticks and root ginger with a citrus background
Palate: Raisins with toffee popcorn and root ginger
Finish:Thick, Long & Warm
Strength 49.9% ABV
Casktypes: 1stfill American Oak Bourbon and 1stFill Spanish Oak Sherry
Drawing parallels with Whisky production, The Dragon Series showcases the scale of variability encountered throughout the process, which is seemingly chaotic and unpredictable. However, using the skills, knowledge and experience of the craftsman of today, and of those before us, the final whisky always become beautiful through each of these golden iterations.
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Iteration II is the first distillery production stage. The malted barley from the field is taken through the three key processes of mashing, fermentation and distillation. The potential variables and unpredictability further multiply through these steps with gravities, temperatures and cut points to name a few, all requiring a deep understanding from our mash and still men, ensuring we have a consistent new make spirit. This Lowland floral and fruity distillery character is ready to advance to be filled into our oak casks for maturation.
BOILED SWEETS, FLORAL, PEPPER
Nose: Pear drops with fresh cut grass
Palate: Malted cereal with boiled sweets and hint of cracked pepper
Drawing parallels with Whisky production, The Dragon Series showcases the scale of variability encountered throughout the process, which is seemingly chaotic and unpredictable. However, using the skills, knowledge and experience of the craftsman of today, and of those before us, the final whisky always become beautiful through each of these golden iterations.
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Iteration I is the origin for all of our whisky. Barley is harvested annually from the farmers field before undergoing the process of malting. The resulting malted barley gives us the main raw material for our distillery. Before this raw material even arrives at the distillery, we have already encountered variety and variability from nature, our environment, and the malting process itself.
SHOTRTBREAD, CITRUS, REFRESHING
Nose: Toasted barley with floral cut grass Palate: Refreshing citrus apples and creamy shortbread Finish: Refreshing & Sweet