Review by: dustbunna
This is the second of three Balblair single casks I picked up over the past couple of years. All three happened to be 2006 vintage and bottled in 2019 at 13 years of age. I have a real soft spot for this Highland, especially the old vintage-stated style, and these single casks were bought out of a desire to pick up some higher-strength options (which are relatively hard to come by in the US.) This one is cask #76, which was a private bottling for K&L Wines in California. Unusually, it spent its entire life in what one could describe as a first-fill “sherry-adjacent” Spanish oak butt, having previously held Oloroso wine from Montilla (outside the sherry triangle.)
Distillery: Balblair.
Bottler: Distillery bottling.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 56.2%. Cask strength.
Age: 13 years. Distilled in 2006. Bottled in 2019.
Cask type: Montilla Oloroso Spanish oak butt.
Price: $110 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: FIGS. So many figs, cherries, chocolate, dry grass, cinnamon, garam masala, pine tree needles, goes a bit sweeter and herbal.
Palate: medium body ~ even more figs, wood spice, camphor, goes a bit more earthy, aniseed, mixed fruit jam, a bit of forest decay.
Finish: long ~ tingling with mint and pepper.
Conclusion: Well, this many figs in whisky is a new one for me— and quite welcome, since I love them. This cask was great, but totally obliterated the Balblair spirit— it’s entirely the wood talking here, to no one’s surprise. I do really enjoy drinking this one, but it’s not got a ton of dimension. It’s like a really good batch of A’Bunadh, or other young and powerful sherry bombs, with the added bonus of the figs and just enough that is non-sweet running through it to give those notes much-needed support. I really like it, same score as the ex-bourbon Balblair that came before, but overall through the bottle’s life I probably liked it just a notch less.
Final Score: 81.
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 