Whisky Review: Balblair 1978 First Release

The 1978 vintage is one of the few from Balblair that has only received a single release. It was eventually replaced in 2012 by a second release from the 1975 vintage. This at least suggests that Balblair really is going through their warehouses to find the casks that they think work best rather than simply marching forward through whatever they happen to have on hand.

This whisky was distilled in 1978, filled into second-fill ex-bourbon casks, then bottled in 2009 in an outturn of 3000 bottles at 46% without coloring or chill filtration

Thanks to Michael Kravitz for this sample.

Balblair 1978 First Release

Nose: fairly typical Balblair, but more refined and a little tired until it sits in the glass for a good while - clean honied malt, orange peel, strongly herbal, vanilla, light oak, a little tropical fruit and berry/grape/sherry. After adding a few drops of water it becomes softer and more malty with a slightly savory edge, but the structure remains largely the same.

Taste: fairly light - honied sweet malt up front, becoming herbal with vanilla and grape-y fruit around the middle, plus an undercurrent of gentle oak throughout that grows stronger around the back. After dilution it gets sweeter up front and feels more green/herbal around the middle, but stays largely the same.

Finish: very long - polished oak, clean malt, savory, herbal vanilla, orange peel

This feels like a logical extension of the 1989, but with more complexity in the aromas and finish. While it is also composed from refill ex-bourbon casks, the impact is dialed up just enough to keep it from feeling too spirit-y. I was a little disappointed by the flavors in comparison, but the way it was bracketed by the aromas and finish makes up for a lot of that. Overall it's very solid spirit aged in not overly-aggressive casks, which is the kind of thing that is getting increasingly difficult to find without spending an arm and a leg.

Whisky Review: Balblair 1989 Third Release

Balblair has done a number of releases from this vintage, beginning in 2007 and ending in 2012, signaling the end of their (almost?) exclusively ex-bourbon lineup and shifting into a lineup that featured blends of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.

This release was distilled in 1989, filled into refill ex-bourbon casks, then bottled in 2012 without coloring or chill filtration.

I bought this sample as part of a set at The Good Spirits Co in Glasgow in 2013.

Balblair 1989 Third Release

Nose: kind of Balvenie-ish - honied malt, rich vanilla, orange peel, pineapple, beeswax, a little floral. After adding a few drops of water the wax and floral notes expand, the malt becomes drier, and some grape notes come out.

Taste: opens with sweet malt and floral honey undertones, which carry all the way through, some vanilla and vague fruit/berries around the middle, and a light oak overlay near the back. After dilution it retains more or less the same structure but in a softer mode and with some greener notes at the back plus a little pleasant mustiness.

Finish: savory malt and gentle oak tannins, waxy, vanilla, grape

While not particularly complex, this is a good, solid bourbon cask whisky. I appreciate that Balblair was willing to showcase their spirit without the crutch of sherry casks for so long and wish that they were still doing it, because I think it offered something similar to older bourbon cask Balvenie and Clynelish that can be rather difficult to find these days. I would probably buy a bottle if I could find it for under $120, but that seems pretty unlikely at this point. Definitely not at the local price of $500 a bottle.

Whisky Review: Balblair 1997 Second Release

Balblair's vintage release strategy offers a rare chance to experience spirit distilled during the same year at different ages. This was the second release of the 1997 vintage, with another five years in the casks compared to the first release.

This miniature was part of a set I purchased at the Good Spirits Co in Glasgow in 2013.

Balblair 1997 Second Release

Nose: pretty standard ex-bourbon barrel whisky - good balance of caramel, oak, vanilla, milk chocolate, and malt, greener young Balblair notes are becoming herbal, berries, orange peel, and vague fruitiness in the background. After adding a few drops of water the balance shifts towards the spirit and away from the cask - more green malt, less caramel and oak, plus a little bit of pineapple, pear, and mocha.

Taste: sweet caramel and roasted malt up front, vanilla in the middle, joined by well-integrated oak and some light green notes going into the finish. After dilution it feels more youthful, with more green malt and less oak/caramel, plus extra vague fruit around the middle.

Finish: a huge wave of espresso chocolate mousse, cinnamon, plus well-integrated oak and cedar in the fade out

This is one of those rare whiskies where the finish is the best part of the experience. The aromas and flavors are totally decent but somewhat unremarkable in comparison to the confectionary experience after the swallow. Much of that is lost with the addition of water, so I'd hold off unless you have a whole bottle and want to experiment.

There is a clear evolution from the younger 1997 vintage that I tried a while ago, with a switch from a more spirit-driven release to a more cask-driven release. In many ways this takes some of the best parts of bourbon and repackages them in a malt whisky context, amplifying the good parts (caramel, vanilla, chocolate/coffee) and smoothing out the rougher edges (overly aggressive oak) into a very tight package. It's not particularly complex, but what it does well it does very well. I wish I could have picked up a whole bottle when it was available, but such is the way of the whisky world.

Whisky Review: Balblair 2002 First Release

For the last decade or so Balblair has been releasing younger (10-12 years old) vintage single malts. I tried a couple of them (1997 and 2001) a while back and found that their character varied quite significantly despite their nominally similar composition. This whisky is part of the same lineup and was released in 2012 from what Balblair claims were first-fill ex-bourbon casks bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

This miniature is from a set I purchased at the Good Spirits Co in Glasgow in 2013.

Balblair 2002 First Release

Nose: fairly typical of younger Balblair - fresh/green malt dominates, vague fruitiness (pineapple/mango/grapefruit?), very little cask impact, a little creamy vanilla. After adding a few drops of water the green/new make notes become much stronger and more unpleasant.

Taste: sweet malt beginning up front, joined by green youthfulness all the way through, some vague fruitiness (tropical/berries) starting around the middle, more malt with a sour edge going into the finish. After dilution it becomes sweeter and the mouthfeel is thicker, but the green notes become stronger in the middle.

Finish: green malt with a touch of grainy rather than oak-y bitterness, a little sour

If you've had younger Balblair before then you probably know about what you're in for here. As with many of them if feels like this is composed entirely of whisky from second- or third-fill casks that have barely been able to round off the rougher edges of the new make spirit. The choice to bottle at 46% appears to have been necessity more than just style, since the aromas absolutely fall apart with even a little bit of water. Compared to the 2001 this was more straightforward, but also more boring. Overall, it was fine but not something that I would search out.

Whisky Review: Rattray's Selection No. 1 19 Year Blended Malt

A.D. Rattray, an independent bottler whose owner is part of the family that used to own Bowmore, released a number of blended malts in the early-2010s that more or less slipped under the radar. Most of this has to do with the fact that anything with the word 'blend' in front tends to get a lot less traction with whisky geeks unless it comes from Compass Box, which in this case means that they really missed out. Getting a full strength whisky at almost two decades old composed entirely from sherry butts for under $100 would be almost unthinkable right now and was still a steal when it was released in 2010.

This whisky was constructed from four sherry butts - Auchentoshan 1991 (Cask 495), Balblair 1990 (Cask #1142), Benriach 1989 (Cask #50064), and Bowmore 1991 (Cask #2073) - that were married together and bottled at 55.8% without coloring or chill filtration.

Thanks to Michael Kravitz for this sample.

Rattray's Selection No. 1 19 Year Blended Malt

Nose: balanced sherry and mossy/ashy peat with solid intensity, savory malt, fresh baked bread, caramel, mild oak, and floral perfume. After adding a few drops of water the sherry is toned down, allowing the malt to becoming roughly equal, vanilla comes out, and it is much more savory overall.

Taste: a fair amount of alcohol heat through, sweet sherry up front, syrupy/salty with green fruit (apples, pears) and floral overtones in the middle, slowly transitioning into bittersweet with a prickle of peat and savory oak at the back. After dilution it becomes bittersweet throughout with more savory sherry and peat up front plus some ashes and stronger near the back.

Finish: lingering sherry residue, balanced malt and oak, wood ash

I really wish I had more time with this one. Even when I have a hard time teasing out the details, it's a really enjoyable whisky that neatly balances its constituent parts. It would be great if we could get more of these kinds of blended malts where peat is an element, but not as strongly as a full Islay single malt. With so few distilleries currently producing medium peated malts, this is one of the few avenues we have for enjoying those kinds of whiskies.

Whisky Review: Balblair Vintage 1997 vs. 2001

I was lucky enough to both taste and grab some samples of these whiskies from the PDXWhisky tasting  back in April. Since then I've sat down a couple of times to do more detailed reviewing.

Balblair was founded in 1790, making it one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland that is still in operation. Located just north of the Speyside region and near Glenmorangie, it languished in obscurity until being revived by investment in the early 2000s. In 2007 it took the rather radical (for the scotch whisky industry) move of shifting all of their bottles to vintages rather than standard age dates, emphasizing how the spirit can change from year to year rather than blending to produce consistent products. With that said, Balblair has still stuck with fairly standard ages, putting out 10-18 year old bottles in their core range, with additional older vintages that command significantly higher prices.

Here I'll look at two different whiskies that are roughly the same age at 10-11 years old, putting them at the younger end of the spectrum.

Balblair 1997 First Release

Nose: fresh green malt, oatmeal, slightly sour berries and fruit esters (apples/pears), a hint of vegetal peat, pine, floral, Jolly Ranchers, bubblegum, vanilla, gentle toasty oak, light baking spices, a bit rum-like and savory. After adding a few drops of water, there's more obvious barrel influence with caramel and brown sugar coming out, the floral and malt notes merge, the vanilla becomes almost sharp/piercing while integrating with the fruit esters, and some raisin and soapy notes pop out.

Taste: very fresh flavors, malt and floral notes throughout, sweet and sour fruit (apples, berries) and malt up front, becoming bittersweet mid-palate, with fairly hefty oak, pepper, vanilla, grass, and fruit (apples, pears, stone fruit). After dilution, there is caramel and raisin sweetness up front, then bitter herbs (bay leaf?) and oak over malt plus a bit of soap from the mid-palate back, some floral notes linger, and there's light pepper.

Finish: coffee beans, malt, berries, stone fruit, gentle oak, floral. After dilution it trends towards bitter herbal/vegetal notes, but has a very creamy floral/malt element alongside light pepper.

Bottled in 2007 at 43% as one of the inaugural releases of their vintage line, this malt seems to do best undiluted. While experiencing it with a bit of dilution may be educational or interesting, the trend towards bitter herbaceous notes and oak tannins as well as a lack of punch just rubbed me the wrong way. Neat, it was a wonderful display of malt, floral, and vanilla notes in almost perfect harmony with oak tannins from the first-fill casks, which hit me just right. Balblair has recently put out a second release of the 1997 vintage, with several more years under its belt. I'd be very interested to try it, to see how well the malt has held up to the extra time in oak. With the proper balance of spirit and cask, I can imagine it being a stunner.

Balblair 2001 First Release

Nose: cake frosting, nutty roasted grain, feint-y, TCP, dark fruity oak, green fruit and vegetal peat, vegetables (celery?), clean sweet malt and vanilla underneath. After adding a few drops of water, the nose blossoms, with more first-fill bourbon barrels influence and reduced feint-y notes but retaining a somewhat unpleasant vegetal edge, a certain grassiness (rhum agricole-ish), more integration, some cinnamon, fruit, and sherry notes come out alongside hints of something floral.

Taste: clean sweet malt, vanilla, and caramel throughout, a touch of sherry, big pepper, herbal/vegetal notes, and a healthy dose of oak tannins mid-palate and back, vanilla, raisins. After dilution it becomes somewhat chewy and buttery (diacetyl), with what seems like stronger sherry influence, trending towards bittersweet, very rich and thick well-polished oak, bigger spice (cinnamon), nut, and fruit notes, plus a bit of coffee.

Finish: vanilla malt, peppery tannic oak, slightly vegetal

This whisky was bottled in 2012 at 46%, making it the fourth release (I think) in Balblair's entry-level range. This one doesn't really do it for me. While it did improve dramatically with water (maybe 43% is the ideal for young Balblairs?), the feint-y notes persisted and rather threw off the nose. However, remembering back to the first time I tasted it, it was a lot better after drinking some peated whisky, when the sweeter malt notes seemed more apparent. Maybe burning out the receptors for vegetal/phenolic notes in the nose lets the underlying malt shine? I'm not sure, but I'd give this one a swing and a miss. I can imagine it improving with time, so I'll keep an eye out for future releases of this vintage in another two to three years, when the new make elements may have given way to more heft and balance.

Comparing these two whiskies goes to show how hard the master blenders at scotch whisky distilleries have to work to put together consistent releases year after year. Each of these expressions must be a combination of many barrels, yet they still have very distinctive characters. In some ways I feel like this is a nice change of pace, as it edges towards the variety of single barrel expressions without as much of the associated costs. On the flip side, every vintage is going to be different, so there's no guarantee that you will like future vintages. There is a clear familial resemblance between the two, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only person who had polarized opinions about these two whiskies. With that said, I'm definitely going to seek out more releases from Balblair. I really enjoy the lighter malt-focused, floral house style and would really enjoy seeing what it becomes with a bit more age.