March 4, 2015

Little duels, Balbair OB vs. Cadenhead

In theory, an older unfiddled with indie malt should defeat a much younger OB at a lower strength, but this is Balblair and Balblair’s recent bottlings, even when young, have often been… just perfect. So let’s not start counting our chickens just yet…

Balblair 1999/2014 (46%, OB, 2nd release)

Colour: full gold. Nose: traces of juicy golden sultanas may suggest there’s some sherry in this, but it does not nose ‘sherry’. What’s loud and clear is rather the trademark fruitiness, with a crushed slice of ripe banana on top of many apples, blood oranges, ripe greengages and a solid dose of custard, probably from some fairly active American oak. Also whiffs of clay and cut grass for good balance. Very, very “Balblair”, fresh and fruity. Oh and there are also whiffs of white flowers. Mouth: balanced fruits indeed. Ripe apples and mirabelles, then a greener oak, quite some mead (also what they call chouchen in Brittany, which is a fermented mix of apple juice and honey), then more and more lemon drops, limejuice, a slightly bitter grassiness that kind of loops with the green oak, and even something faintly medicinal. Cough syrup? Finish: quite long, rather on lemons and their skins. Comments: not just fruits. A rather bigger middle-aged Balblair. SGP:551 - 85 points.

Balblair 1990/2015 (52.2%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection)

Colour: gold. Nose: there are notes of almond fudge and pinesap at first nosing, possibly from oak oils, as well as a little damp clay and wee notes of vase water, or ‘duck pond’. But the fruits are soon to come to the surface (ha!), with a greener profile than that of the OB. So rather green apples, gooseberries, also grapefruits… With water: fruits in the front. In a way, it’s rather narrow, but that’s a pleasant narrowness. No wait, after ten minutes, more aromatic herbs do come out, especially spearmint. Mouth (neat): a rather perfect blend of lemon squash, barley water, maybe drinking clay, with a few tiny drops of Red Bull (with apologies to W.M. Cadenhead). Quite zesty! With water: fruits and mint. These herbal/minty notes that water brings out really are assets. Finish: rather long. A funny feeling of Scottish mojito. Comments: this baby loves water. It was a close call. SGP:561 - 86 points.

Check the index of all Balblair I've tasted so far

Pete McPeat and Jack Washback