Review by: zSolaris
Distillery: Blend.
Region: Blend.
Age: NAS. 1950’s Bottling.
ABV: 43.0%
Price: Sample courtesy of /u/federalagents.
Color: 1.1, Burnished.
Nose: Pretty straight forward. It’s malt and citrus scents, namely lemons and oranges.
Palate: Fairly sweet. Malt is the main note here followed by notes of lemon curd and orange juice.
Finish: Fairly short. A tinge of malt whisky comes through and that’s all.
Conclusion: For as much Ballantine’s is sold in the world a year (apparently 7.7 million 9L cases in 2019, similar to Jameson’s), I’ve somehow never had any. It’s not for choosing to avoid it, I’ve just never had any real reason to order it at a bar or have it otherwise. So I went into this whisky without any idea what to expect or what it might even remotely taste like. While this is nothing special or fancy, if this dram is a representation of the profile Ballantine’s goes for, I can understand the appeal. It’s a really easy drinker with lovely citrus notes in the nose and palate. Not bad and I imagine it would’ve made a nice highball as well.
Final Score: 75.
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 
