Follow Us:

Blog

KWM 2020 Whisky Calendar Day 20: Balblair 18 Year Old

Posted on November 7, 2021

by Evan

Day Twenty is here, and we are getting to the tail end of the 2020 KWM Whisky Calendar. Today, we will be revisiting Balblair Distillery. This time we will be trying one of the Highland Distillery's newer age-stated releases: The Balblair 18-Year-Old.

As we discussed eleven drams ago, back on Day Nine, Balblair has quite recently undergone a large shift in philosophy when it comes to the distillery's own releases. What happens when a brand reinvents itself like this? There had to be a bit of worry that Balblair would lose all of its previous fans but also not create any new ones in the process, right? On top of that: would the distillery character and DNA survive the change from vintages to age statements as well?

The 1997 Vintage we tasted on back on Day Nine was matured solely in ex-Bourbon casks. The Balblair 18-Year-Old we will be tasting today has some sherry cask influence in the mix. This 18 Year Old purportedly spends the first fifteen and a half years in refill ex-bourbon casks before a finishing period of more than three and a half years in first fill Spanish Oak that previously held Oloroso Sherry.

Math is definitely not my forte, but doesn't that total add up to potentially more than eighteen years in cask? I don't have enough fingers and I am too lazy to take my socks off right now, but I think this means that there is potentially -even likely- nineteen-year-old whisky in this mini bottle...

That possibility is one of the benefits of forgoing vintage statements on your whisky, where you are handcuffed to selecting from just that one year's worth of ageing casks. The beauty of age-stated bottles of whisky is this: The age you put on the label is only the minimum age of any whisky in the bottle, so this 18-year-old in front of us may actually contain some nineteen-year-old liquid in the bottle as well. They could go even older than that if they wanted to.



This means that when selecting casks for a batch of 18-Year-Old Balblair, they can choose any casks in their warehouses that are at least that old or older. It opens up a lot of possibilities and makes it a lot easier to remain more consistent between batches. It may not be as fun for us whisky geeks, but for many consumers knowing that the Balblair 18 Year Old that they purchase today is as close the company could make it to the previous batch and the batch they bottle five years from now can be important.

Like 1997 we have already tasted, the 18-year-old is bottled at 46% ABV, is unchillfiltered and contains no added colouring. Tasting two single malts from the same distillery but with different philosophies behind them still gives us a great opportunity to discover Balblair's true character. The basic principles on quality are still in place for the new line, so let us try this newer look Balblair out!



Balblair 18 Year Old

Also available in 50ml Mini bottles.

Evan's Tasting Note

Nose: Apple turnover, honey glazed donuts, pears, Mounds bars, fresh coffee beans, and Ovaltine.

Palate: Cinnamon cake doughnuts, raisin and nut shortbread cookies, apples and pears, more honey, lemon-ginger tea, and Werther's Originals.

Finish: A touch of spice plus soft apples, honey and toffee and a touch of shortbread.

Comment: This is a very well put together 18 Year Single Malt Scotch. Many will miss the vintage releases of Balblair, but having a bottle like this to come back to time and time again might just be worth the tradeoff.

We had some big sherry just yesterday, but even though this Balblair is more of a secondary maturation in sherry, it is no slouch. Rich and honeyed with a touch of spice - I quite like it myself. Now we have to wait and what Day Twenty-one brings!

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

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

 

 

Recent Posts
Archives

Categories