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KWM 2020 Whisky Calendar Day 9: Balblair 1997 Vintage

Posted on November 7, 2021

by Evan

Time is flying, and we are up to Door number Nine on the 2020 KWM Whisky Calendar. Open that door and pull out the contents to reveal the Balblair 1997 2nd Release.

For many years the Glenrothes and Balblair lineups were the only Single Malt Scotch ranges released as vintages only. Both distilleries have eschewed the vintage bottling in the past few years and gone to a more typical line of age-stated releases. Balblair's range currently includes 12, 15, 18 and 25-year-old core. You might still find some of their vintage stated bottles out there - as of this writing we still have the 2003 and 2005 in our shop.



Balblair is likely one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, though it has not been open continuously since its inception in 1790. Also, just over a century after production started in 1894, the distillery site was moved about a kilometre North to make it more accessible to the newly built Inverness to Ardgay Railway Line. This allowed the distillery to take advantage of the freight transport for the much-needed coal and barley used in heating and production.



The distillery was mothballed in 1911 and did not resume production until nearly decades later in 1948. Since then, it has changed ownership a few times but was sold to Inverhouse Distillers in 2007. In 2019 the Balblair Single Malt brand underwent a full-scale revamp. Balblair remains in the hands of Inverhouse/Thai Beverages today and is one of four Scottish Single Malt brands owned by the company. The others are Old Pulteney, anCnoc (from Knockdhu Distillery), and Speyburn.

Balblair Distillery is located in the Northern Highlands, on the South side of the Dornoch Firth and on the outskirts of a town called Edderton. Its nearest distillery neighbours are Glenmorangie, which is about a 10-minute drive going East, and the newer Thompson Brothers Distillery at Dornoch Castle. What lies on the North side of the Dornoch Firth and is about a 15-minute drive from Balblair if you take the A9 across the Firth itself.

Back to the mini bottle at hand. Truth be told, we weren't supposed to get this mini bottle of the Balblair 1997. It was a fortuitous mistake. We weren't even aware these still existed. It is always fun to try something that is no longer available though, so we were happy to put it into our Whisky Calendar regardless.

You could consider this bottling a library release. The 1997 Balblair was actually put into bottle back in 2013 and is no longer available as a full-sized version. So how about we give this relative rarity a taste?



Balblair 1997 2nd Release - 46%

Only available in 50ml Mini bottles.

This second release of the Balblair 1997 was aged for 15 years in ex-Bourbon Casks before being bottled in 2013 at 46% ABV. It predates Balblair's change to offering more standard age-stated releases, which started in 2019.

Evan's Tasting Note

Nose: Vanilla, shortbread cookies right out of the oven, pancakes with whipped cream on top, pear pie, chamomile tea with a teaspoon of honey, peaches, maraschino cherries (the bright red fake kind) and a touch of sawdust.

Palate: Pralines and black pepper along with a dash of salt upfront then passion fruit, fresh peach and mango, marmalade, coconut, angel food cake and vanilla frosting.

Finish: The fruit notes stick around for a little while, as does the black pepper and a touch of ginger heat before more oak notes come in on the fade.

Comment: A nicely put-together ex-Bourbon cask driven single malt. I will miss the variety that vintage releases of Balblair gave us, but I can understand the company behind the distillery wanting a more consistent lineup so that consumers know what they are getting.

Where will the Calendar take us from here? Stay tuned for Day 10 on the morrow!

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool

This entry was posted in Store, Whisky, Tastings, KWM Whisky Calendar 2020, Whisky Calendars

 

 

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