Balblair 1999 2nd Release

This blind tasting was clearly won by the Balblair. #1: Balblair 1999. Original bottling. Second release. Bottled 2015. 46.0% #2: Compass Box Menagerie. NAS Blended Malt. Bottled 2021. 46.0% #3: Arran 18 year old. Original bottling. Bottled 2016. 46.0% #4: Glenlivet 18 year old. Original bottling. Bottled 2019. 43.0% #5: Dalwhinnie Distiller’s Edition. Original bottling. Distilled 1997. Bottled 2013. 43.0% When Balblair was releasing their whiskies by vintages, they were probably the best distillery that no one talked about. Every release, except for the ’04, was exquisite and underpriced. I do not blame them at all for changing up their business strategy. Being the best distillery that no one talks about is not worth it for them. Rest assured, I will be buying their new bottlings, as soon as all their vintage releases are off the shelves of course. Balblair 1999, for a whisky that is 15-16 years old and priced ~$100 (I bought one bottle for $110 and a second for $130), has an unbelievable nose. A perfect nose. It’s become cliché for whisky reviewers once they try a unicorn whisky that’s over 25 years old, or over some ridiculous price point, to brag about how long they nosed the whisky before they actually tasted it; like how long they can last in bed. Nobody tries to do that for a reasonably priced whisky at a common age. Why not? This Balblair 1999 is clearly worth 1 hour of foreplay before I bust a n… I mean, take a sip. This whisky is an olfactory masterpiece. Perfect harmony between wood and spirit; bourbon and sherry influence. There’s some honey and forest-in-late-autumn; carrot cake and cake icing; milk chocolate and honey-nut Cheerios; fresh oak and almost-stale figs. I have an open Balblair 1983, which was 3 times the price of the 1999. Without blinding, I may enjoy the nose on the 1999 more. The 1999, however, does not have as great of a palate and finish. It is honest to the nose, but the younger, less developed malty notes are more dominant. Now, let’s talk about the losers, from the bottom up: Dalwhinnie Distiller’s Edition is a decent whisky; perfectly pleasant and friendly. It would be a “beginner whisky” if it weren’t $110-120 these days. I believe I bought this bottle a few years ago for $75, which is fair. Glenlivet 18 year is a decent-er whisky, pleasant-er and friendlier. You can never be sad with a Glenlivet 18 in hand. It has a luxuriousness to it that the Dalwhinnie lacked and is still priced appropriately. In fact, it is about the same price as the Dalwhinnie DE. The Arran 18 year that I have open is an older bottling style. I see the newer bottlings contain even darker liquid. I was very surprised in this blind line up that Arran 18 was the sherry bomb. I expected that Glenlivet 18 would have the most sherry influence. Is Arran trying to become known as a sherried brand? It is a very good sherried whisky, this 2016 Arran 18 year, but I believe I prefer their more ex-bourbony release, the now discontinued Arran 14 year old. I wish I had two bottles of Compass Box Menagerie. A disturbing trend around my local liquor stores is that Compass Box limited releases are being snatched up like allocated bourbons. I had to pay a premium of $170 to secure this bottle. It’s almost done, 3 months after cracking it, so it’s a good one; but I haven’t decided if it’s worth chasing. On the one hand, it reminds me of That Is Not A Luxury Whisky, if it actually weren’t a luxury whisky; on the other hand, it’s a lot of Mortlach with a splash of Laphroaig, and it makes me want to believe that the perfect blend would be a good Mortlach with a good Laphroaig. Back to the Balblair 1999: Score: ** (unimaginably good) How much does a bottle cost?: ~$100-130 if you can find it at retail. I do not believe the secondary market has increased the cost much. How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $260

Stop number 63, and the last official stop for round 4 of the SDT is Balblair. This Highland distillery does not use age statements, but rather vintages. I suppose that way they can sample their casks and determine when they are ready for vatting and not be restricted to set age statement releases. This is the 2nd release of the 1999 vintage, which was bottled in 2014 making it roughly 15 years old. Bottled at 46% ABV, non chill filtered and natural color of yellow gold. The nose starts off with lots of honey. It quickly transitions into apples, pears, tangerines, oranges and apricots. Almonds, ginger and cinnamon. Light chocolate and vanilla. It’s fairly malty with a nice pepper note, and really comes across as an unpeated Talisker. Grape skins and a very light sherry note, buried way down deep. Faint oak and some caramel. The nose, overall, is light. I really wish there was more complexity to it. The palate is very malty with barley sugar and honey. Light sherry sweetness and a little pepper, again mimicking Talisker but without the peat smoke or intense pepper. Tangerines, apricots and oranges. Some brown sugar and caramel. Raisins, mild oak and almonds finish things off. A medium light bodied mouthfeel that starts a little mouthwatering but turns dry. The finish is medium length, dry with tangerines and slightly bitter almonds. After seeing rave reviews from @Telex, @LeeEvolved and @PBMichiganWolverine, I had high hopes for this one, but it seems to fall a little short for me. While I certainly appreciate the likeness to Talisker, I don’t want an unpeated Talisker knockoff. The complexity just wasn’t there for a 15 year old. This is very much like an improved Glenmorangie 10. At more than double the price though, it’s really not worth buying a full bottle. Round 4 was fun, but this Balblair was far from the top of the sample pile, but it was also not at the bottom. Thanks to Telex for the sample, 3.75. Cheers 🥃

info: Mais, quelle belle boite! S'ouvre comme une porte avec des aimants, des images et du textes à l'intérieur... fin de la parenthèse esthétique. Je ne peux pas dire que j'ai particulièrement aimé les dernières éditions de Balblair et j'ai laissé longtemps de côté cette distillerie ayant eu une mauvaise impression (abstraction faite du 1990). J'ai finalement succombé aux commentaires positifs sur cette bouteille et à une offre spéciale sur cette bouteille en particulier (quand les astres sont alignées!). Ce scotch est une combinaison d'ex fut de bourbon américain et d'ex sherry butt d’Espagne de 1999. Il y a, à ma connaissance jusqu'ici, 4 release de cette bouteille dont la première était un "traveler exclusive" (disponible seulement dans les duty free). La première avait plus d'influence de sherry que les éditions suivantes. Mes tasting notes concernent la 2e édition du Balblair 1999 embouteillé en 2016. Sans filtrage à froid, sans couleur ajouté. Deux distinctions à sont actifs: l'or en 2015 "Highlands & Islands 13-18 yo - The scoth Whisky Masters (The Spirits Business) et l'argent en 2017 "international Wine & Spirit Competition". Nez: Herbes fraîches et pommes vertes (influencé par la couleur verte?), c'est fruité en tout cas! Non, je confirme les pommes vertes! Frais et sucré! Un verger, des fleurs de pommes. Des raisins? Bouche: Pommes et raisins oui! Belles notes de sherry! Belle texture huileuse. Vanille. Final: jus de pommes sucrés. chocolat noir et miel et orange. Overall: Ok! c'est doux doux doux! Ceux qui aimes se faire arracher la bouche par un gros cask strenght tourbé vont être déçu. Pour les amateurs d'équilibre de fruité, c'est un beau bijoux! Je suis en accord avec les autres commentaires positifs sur cette bouteille. Les notes de Sherry ajoute une complexité supplémentaire qui échappe à d'autres éditions de Balblair. Loin d'un sherry bomb mais très bel équilibre! 88%

The tour group has supplied me with a tremendous amount of samples. This sample provide by @Telex was long overdue by me, but better late than never. The nose is quite full. A rich honey nose and Irish Tea are immediate and foremost. Ripened apples, dried apricots, vanilla, heather, malt and milk chocolate (like Whoppers candy). Whew! Then comes the orange wedges. Add a pinch of baking spices: cinnamon, nutmeg. A faint amount of the sherry notes comes through after a good deal of time. The is worthy of your time. A soft, thick palate, and, like the nose, is honey rich. As the honey sweetness starts to fade, cinnamon spices and black pepper crescendo. The spiciness softens back to sweetness: vanilla, caramel, more ripe apples, and milk chocolate. The finish of oranges, pepper, oak, vanilla and more honey complete the whisky journey. Somewhat short and wish it could be longer. A honey bomb from nose to finish. The spice is a nice counter that does not take away or diverts the whisky from the main course. Its like taking the service road on the highway to bypass traffic only to get back on the main road at the next on ramp. If there is on weakness or criticism, it would be that the finish does not hold up to the nose and palate depths. Overall, a very good whisky that you can pull out any time and flat out enjoy. Worth the wait, but don’t wait too long. [90/100][Tasted: 3/3/18] ——————————— Quick hit: Honey; heather; oak; ginger [Whiskyfest 17]

I’m beginning to wind down the samples that were sent to me as part of our fourth round of the Distillery Tour group. This Highland malt from Balblair is the second edition of the 1999 vintage. I believe this is considered a 15 year old single malt, I’m just not sure why it’s not openly declared on the labeling. This malt comes in with a slightly elevated ABV of 46%. I’m also not sure whether it’s NCF’d or has additional coloring added. It’s a beautiful gold color and gives you some silky, skinny legs in the Glencairn. The nose opens with faint oak and it isn’t until you really give it 25-30 minutes that you are rewarded with some sweet honey and sherry notes. There’s a bit of spice cake in there if you really invest the extra time and energy required to extract it. The palate is seriously complex with a sensational, full mouthfeel. It starts with vanilla and apples and transverses between sweet and light spices frequently during the entire sip. It’s mesmerizing. The finish is medium to long, constantly warming yet incredibly smooth. Overall, this is a Highland malt I could seriously get behind and purchase over and over and be completely happy with it from one bottle to the next. It won’t WOW you with surprises, but you could reach for this one during every session and just be thoroughly content every time. Thanks to my new buddy, @Telex for this sample. Excellent choice! 4.25 stars. Cheers.

It won't be long until we'll all be longing for the days before the marketing department ruined Balblair. These vintage statements as a brand staple were truly awesome and really set Balblair apart, sadly we'll now be getting boring age statements and the premium value in the brand will fade a touch. Nose - light honey, vanilla, pepper, baking spice, and light citrus. Taste - Plenty of vanilla, butter, spicy (european oak is shinning on this area), and apples. Just a really nice complex whisky but I get a nice oily and buttery note that kinda brings it all together instead of leaving the flavors dancing around. This was my first Balblair and it has had me seeking out more expressions. Sadly I've only been able to source younger ones without the sherry casks. I really like this one and I'm deeply saddens to see the brand leaving their roots in the pursuit to raise prices through marketing tactics.