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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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November 22, 2019 |
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Time warp session, today Balblair again |
Indeed I thought we should have another go a the new ‘AS’ range (as opposed to VS, vintage statements). We’ll first select the new 15, and then see what we can find in the ‘older’ boxes… |
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Balblair 15 yo (46%, OB, +/-2019) 
This baby’s supposed to be ‘tropical and mature’, according to their website. Well, were I a proper whisky preacher wearing a large hat, I would now mention a chica that I once met in a shady bar in Manaus and… Certainly not! Colour: gold. Nose: so much difference from the 12! So much more traditional Balblairness, with that peculiar fruit salad sprinkled with honey and vanilla sauce… Melons, bananas, apples, oranges, guavas, fresh mint leaves, white chocolate… Nutshell: Balblair. So, I was once in Manaus when the… Oh come on! Mouth: very good, very Balblair, full of fruits, custard, corn syrup, white chocolate, caramel, syrups, oranges… It just tends to become a little spirity and pretty hot – hot like that girl whom I met in Manaus while… Erm, apologies. Finish: rather long, still a tad too warming, perhaps, but all the rest is rather perfect. As perfect as that… <censored>… Comments: no, sorry, never been to Manaus, and neither do I wear tropical hats under our temperate climates. Temperate so far…
SGP:641 - 86 points. |
So an older bottling… why not this?... |
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Balblair 10 yo (100° proof, Gordon & MacPhail, 75cl, +/-1978) 
G&M have had some stunning Balblairs, so our hopes are super-high now… Colour: brownish amber. Nose: this is Cognac, not malt whisky. There’s a huge rancio, a lot of metal polish, bags of old walnuts, quite a few Cuban puros, and just piles of flints. Forgot to mention very black chocolate, like 100% cocoa, and some very old amontillado. With water: pure oloroso-y goodness. Amazing rancio, walnuts, old lathers and tobaccos, furniture polish, and just more walnuts again. Walnuts just everywhere. Mouth (neat): sweet John Coltrane! It’s all on green walnuts, tobacco, meat broths, very bitter oranges, and yeah, green walnuts. Tends to try to take your tongue hostage, having said that, so careful… With water: loves water, gets slightly softer, displays more oranges, both bitter and regular, and naturally, always with huge numbers of walnuts. Superb dry sherry all around. Finish: long, really a lot on proper chocolate and walnut, and always with rancio in the aftertaste. Comments: masterly, this is why sherried whiskies became so popular. But there is sherry and there is sherry (look where that's got us!)
SGP:362 - 92 points. |
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