Old Ballantruan The 'Peated Malt'

bular macam/sweet red bean paste, sweet, strong peppery, oaky, 2 medicinal, dry, iodine, strong and hit, cherry, strong and complexity, oily, 2 oaky and dry 2 2 beautiful complexity, meaty, balanced, smokey, red fruits, mroe intensity on peppery and spicy nosing as you begin to take deeper and longer whiffs, delicate sweetness 3.25 unfortunate lightness and delicate on the first mouth, take a second sip and let it engulf your senses - you begin to detect heavier cherry notes, smoke and peat, pepper on the front and upper part of your nose, peppery and spicy burn probably a result of the high ABV to this bottling, grainy and dryness, rawness masculinity and bitterness 2 long smooth sustaining of peat, but hint of bitterness sticks, 2

Oh this is Heavily peated. Very pleasant. Instantly made my top 5 whiskies so far. Im a peat head. On the nose, as soon as you open the bottle you get that peaty aroma. After pouring it on the glass you will have to dodge that intense peatiness (which is wonderful) to get some citrus notes as lemon and oranges. There is something floral in there too. On the palate is quite pleasant. Full bodied, eventhough it is bottled at 50%abv you dont need water to taste it, since it is sweet with a very very small hotiness, with intense peat aty the finish which is medium-long. Almonds and nuts are present, oakyness, and peat. I really really really enjoyed it, it is less than 10 years old, but oh boy it is lovely

A little less passionate compared to the extraordinary 10 y.o. version. To the nose: heavy peat, many fresh notes and orange peel. The taste is same - very peated; pleasantly sweet on the edges of the tongue, some citrus, deep smoked barley; but somewhat pale relatively to the 10 years version. Finish is decent - smoky, mouthfilling, “oily”; there is some barley too. It seemed to be very likely to Ledaig 10 y.o. The second tasting reveals much more mature and sweeter nature (same bottle, after 2 months since opening - does not seem to deteriorate). Cool. With a touch of water it gives you some more citrus and cream. Well-deserved 4.

Its ok. Has that highland campfire variety of peat reminiscent of ballechin 10 standard with some orchard fruits to boot. Better thsn tomintoul 16 for sure from same distillery. Inferior to the islay peated malts and ledaig. I would be interested in trying an older age stated expression of ballantruan though.

My prior review was too generous. Having tried several cambeltown, highland and additional islay peated single malts, i can say this is poorly made. Spicy, prickly peat with the flavor of matchsticks and rubber. Washed out fruit notes. This distillery is terrible

Oct 2019. Clear medium gold. Aromatic plum, brine, ripen critrus, smoky pomelo and overcooked egg white in nose. Warm rich smoky malt biscuits, brine, iodine, and a little sweet vanilla in the aftertaste. Good balance peated malt finish.