Review by: dustbunna
I miss Balblair’s vintages, but let’s face it, they were confusing as hell. The distillery would name a bottling based on the distillation year. They would then group a few years’ worth of bottlings with similar profiles as a release, but over that time they would continue aging in wood. This means that not all identical-looking bottles from the same vintage are the same age— for the 2005 1st release, a bottle from 2018 would be 12-13 years old, while a bottle from 2015 was 9-10 years old. If they had continued the style long enough, eventually, like with Balblair’s other vintage years, we would see a 2nd release once they determined the character of the whisky had changed substantially, or if they decided to transfer it to a different cask for additional maturation. The switch to age statements happened in 2018, before a 2nd release of the 2005 entered the picture.
The 1st release 2005 was at the time Balblair’s most recent “young” offering (their entry-level, if you will), matured entirely in ex-bourbon American oak, and is now replaced by the age-stated 12yr. It’s something I never expected to find on the shelves in my state’s poor-selection controlled liquor stores, but evidently it did get imported here in 2016, and there were still a few sitting on the shelf. $70 is a lot for an entry-level, but I have a soft spot for Balblair and especially for these classy, if perplexing, vintage statements.
Distillery: Balblair.
Bottler: Distillery bottling.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 46%.
Age: 11 years. Distilled in 2005. Bottled in 2016.
Cask type: Ex-bourbon American oak casks.
Price: $70 USD.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 4 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: orchard fruits and blossoms, brown sugar, a bit of pastry dough, green wood, pineapple candy, vanilla custard, white chocolate, water brings out green melon.
Palate: oily, medium body ~ strong pear with an undercurrent of floral bitterness, other estery fruits, water brings out bittersweet peach and pear skins, more white chocolate, salt and pepper come forward.
Finish: medium-long ~ pepper, lots of vanilla, earth, develops some mint and camphor after resting, honey, some vegetal decay in the background, turns a bit more floral on the tail end.
Conclusion: Amazing how much better this is than the Gordon & MacPhail 10yr I tried last year. At 11 years old, it’s thoroughly enjoyable and flavorful. The palate is a tad less interesting than the nose and finish, but that’s a nitpick. There are reviews of the later 2017 and 2018 bottlings of this 1st release (confused yet?) that emphasize the more demanding flavors found here, but despite this being one of the younger ones I found the balance to be pretty nice, with lots of fruit throughout to round out the more austere dimensions. Makes me wonder how the age-stated 12yr compares.
Final Score: 83.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 