70.2 - Balblair 1980 (Scotch Malt Whisky Society)

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 10
Distilled: Dec 1980
Bottled: Sep 1990
Strength: 54.8%.
Cask Code: 70.2

Nose: Peanut butter and Peanut M&Ms. Unripe banana and orange rind. I am finding the nose very closed on this so I am adding a little water which brings out the vanilla, honeydew melon, mango and passion fruit which are those tropical notes I expect with Balblair. Some dairy fudge, olive oil, and a sharpness of green Jalapeno peppers.

Palate: Lightly tropical, creamy with some sharp wood. Olives again but in brine.

Finish: Long but quite oaky and tannic dominant. Drying with a sherbet citric fruits.

A Quartet of sherried Balblairs

Anyone who likes whisky who knows me, knows that I am particularly fond of Balblair and I usually have several bottles at any one time being worked though. To me Balblair shines as ex-bourbon matured whisky as it is delicious spirit which doesn't needs hiding with finishing. Balblair however have always had sherried expressions available so it isn't new. Recently it seems I have gathered up quite a few sherried Balblairs, which include the 1999 first release vintage; an exclusive to travel retail, a 1999 second release vintage; a very similar release but which was on general release, the 1990 second release vintage which is an older and more mature expression, and finally a 2000 single cask vintage released exclusively for The Whisky Exchange.





Balblair 1999 (First Release)
Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Own Bottling (Travel Retail)
Age: 14
Distilled: 1999
Bottled: 2014
Strength: 46%

Nose: The first thing that comes to me is young sherry which has a red wine tartness to it. Violets and blueberries, bitter cherry and dried raisins. The sherry led fruits continue as jammy strawberry. It starts to become more dessert like with sticky toffee pudding, after dinner mint chocolates and some pumpkin spice. The sherry elements here are lively and a little raw but some of the distillery character emerges with some mango and pineapple but they are in the form of the tinned syrupy kind.

Palate: Rich with forest fruits, jam, sticky highland toffee. Some rubbery sulphuric elements come in the form of latex gloves.

Finish: Lively and a little youthful which bites a little like grapefruit but with some rich flavours of cherry, blueberry, pepper mint to accompany it.





Balblair 1999 (Second Release)
Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Own Bottling
Age: 14
Distilled: 1999
Bottled: 2014
Strength: 46%

Nose: Straight away this version of the 1999 noses differently form the first release. This is lighter on the sherry and has much more of the distillery character coming through, with evidence of either a greater portion of ex-bourbon matured malt in this vatting, or less in the finishing in general. Gala apples, banana foam sweets, white grapes, and some tropical fruits coming through but like candied versions of them. There is some vanilla led devonshire custard along side some raspberries which reminds me of a similar bread and butter recipe I used to bake. There is some nice burnt toffee and some barley showing as well.

Palate: Some young sherry elements here much like the first release which has a tartness which sours the sweetness a little but brings out a flavour profile like Dr Pepper or Fizzy cherry cola bottle sweets.

Finish: Sweeter on the finish with some barley and memories of washbacks. Pear and apple showing up some of those light distillery characteristics.





Balblair 1990 (Second Release)
Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Own Bottling
Age: 14
Distilled: 1999
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 46%

Nose: Compared to the younger 1999 releases the sherry influence here is noticeably more mature and integrated and I am smelling it as a whole whisky rather than the individual components in the vatting. Crispy red apples, and poached pears in a red wine sauce really brings those richer dessert ex-sherry elements and lighter estery led ex-bourbon elements like mango, and pineapple which show off the Balblair character, stands up alongside it in harmony rather than at a distance. A real dessert dram. Dark chocolate with cranberry, Cuban cigars, chocolate covered Turkish delight. Jolly rancher candy sweets, and some Seville oranges.

Palate: Tangy fruits, orange marmalade with cinnamon spice and some melting chocolate.

Finish: Warm and rich with some dryness from the red apple coming through. Mulled wine, chocolate covered hazelnuts.





Balblair 2000 (Single Cask Release for The Whisky Exchange)
Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Own Bottling (for The Whisky Exchange)
Age: 14
Distilled: 2000
Bottled: 2014
Strength: 53%
Cask Number: 1343

Nose: Strangely the first thing comes to my nose is a slightly vegetative note of mushrooms which reminds me of specifically Mushroom Risotto with creamy sauce and parsley. Very syrupy and saucey and I am reminded of when I was young and I used to go and visit my granny and she used to make home made chips and serve them up with some BBQ sauce. Glazed ribs continue the BBQ sauce notes. There is cherry coke, and that continues with maraschino cherries on top of a rich chocolate dessert like tiramasu with mascarpone and coffee. The rich desserts move into thick stewed berries with blackcurrants, blackberries, sloe berries and maybe some overripe raspberries. All of these reduced down into a thick jam and spread onto buttery toast, and washed down with some keemun black tea with its notes of plum and pine. There is no disputing the massive sherry dominance of this but if you work hard you can get to some of the softer lighter fruits synonymous with the Balblair character. Apple, pear, mango, pineapple etc. There are some sulphury elements some of which I find pleasant like struck match and spent fireworks, but also some rubbery ones again which probably give off the vegetative note from the start. I am pretty sensitive to sulphur though and I find it in abundance in a large variety of sherried whiskies so don't read too much into it unless you are as well.

Palate: Thick and warm like the BBQ sauce again, but also some maple syrup with gives it some sweetness, and floral notes. There is some rubber here as well. If you let it dilute naturally from cask strength in the mouth it gets much lighter and the Balblair spirit emerges.

Finish: There is a touch of smoke here which I likely from some cask charring. Sappy and resinous going back to the maple syrup again. Finally some black coffee with a little chocolate cake.

Balblair 1950s / 1960s

Information

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Official
Age: NAS
Distilled: 1950s/1960s
Bottled: 1960s
Strength: 88 proof (50%)

Wow. What a surprise I had when several old bottles of Balblair appeared at auction, and one in particular which took my fancy was a bottle at the unusual strength of 88 degrees proof which is about 50% ABV. One thing which I have learned is higher strength bottles fair well over a long time in a bottle than the lower strength ones and this has been sitting in the bottle for 50 odd years. The immediate thing I noticed with this was that the fill level was high in the neck which tells me that it has been well looked after and protected from the elements of heat and light which tend to cause evaporation to the angels, and negatively affect the juicy whisky inside. After some frantic and probably out of control bidding at auction I came into the possession of this lovely bottle and I can't wait to enjoy it.

On investigation it was definitely bottled in the 1960s, but without knowing the exact age of the whisky it is hard to pin point the distillation date. I reckon the malt is between 5 and 10 years old which at the older side of the guess would put this as 1950s distillate, and it is something very special indeed to think that this was getting made in post-war Britain.

Back when this was made the production methods would have been a lot different from now with old fashioned floor maltings, cast iron mash tuns, and direct firing of the stills all which help result in a completely different type of spirit as produced today.

Nose: Very bright and fruity and the glass is overflowing with estery notes.  I am getting lots of tropical notes but pineapple stands out and it reminds me of the Lilt soft drink with an almost sharp and tart bite around the edges. Apple juice and the fruit turning more sweet like Banana foam sweets, and that soft, sweet foamy note turning into marshmallows. The sweet fruit notes are turning into  hard boiled sweets like the travel sweets you get at the airport and the candy element finishes with some soft bubblegum. There is something more savoury happening that reminds me of green olives which have been salted and covered in more olive oil. Briny and coastal! Some smoke seems to be lingering about which is a mixture of light peat smoke but also cask char smoke. Soft dairy fudge just rounds everything off nicely.

Palate: This is heavy and oily with way more than you would expect from such a young malt. It is sweet and rich, and like chewing on fruit salad sweets, and the sharpness from the fruit is enough to give a little kick alongside the higher alcoholic strength. It is waxy and honeyed and toffee.

Finish: Mouth coating with a medium length finish. There is a little young solvent spirit notes coming through, but this is big and fruity and oily and satisfying.

Comments: What can I say? Maybe not the most complex spirit in the world as it has clearly not spent the bulk its life in wood, but the spirit itself is magical and captivating and dreaming to a time when this was made is a truly special experience.

Hankey Bannister Heritage Blend

Information

Hankey Bannister Heritage Blend
Inver House Distillers
No Age Statement
Strength: 46%.

A few months ago I wrote a review of the regular Hankey Bannister and this time I am reviewing the new Heritage Blend. Inver House recently came into an old bottle of Hankey Bannister from the 20s and the master blender Stuart Harvey set out to recreate it. It has been marketed in the old style black glass which was popular with several bottles (see Black Bottle blend) at the time but stopped during the war as it was made in Germany. The black glass is really slick and aristocratic and I am a big fan of it as it kinda takes away the need to use as much caramel colourings in the whisky as well. While the regular blend is made up of 20 odd malts the heritage blend is only made up of malt coming from Inver Houses own distilleries of: Balblair, Old Pulteney, Knockdhu, Speyburn and Belmenach.

Nose: The grain dominates straight out of the bottle, and my nose is telling me Invergordon as when I was having a tour of Inver House's blending room I got to try Invergordon new make and the blender told me to look for notes of dolly mixtures in it - and this I get here. After a while the malt emerges so it is worth letting it breathe in the glass a while. Smoky notes of insence  and coal fires. Fruity elements of blood oranges, cooked apples, peach, mango and melon. Marmalade on burnt toast. Some savoury notes of bacon and brown sauce. Some birthday cake with maybe a strawberry jam and marizpan icing, werther's originals sweets and after 8 mints chocolates.

Palate: The extra abv of 46% makes itself known and is fairly weighty and rich in the mouth. Smoky and creamy butterscotch and white chocolate.

Finish: Sweet and savoury smoke with some young malty and spirity notes.

Comments: I like this mostly because of the 46% as with most common blends, the 40% can be too watery on the palate. The extra kick helps boost the drink where the younger stuff can be detected and pulls it together a bit more. It is also pretty cheap at £30 a pop, and I would say better than many entry level malts at the same price.

Balblair 83 (cask 1252) - World of Whiskies exclusive

Information

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Distillery Bottling (World of Whiskies exclusive)
Age: 30
Distilled: 1983
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 54.1%
Cask: ex-bourbon

If I said I wasn't excited about this it would be a complete lie. I have known about this on the radar for a wee while: Single cask 1252 Balblair matured in a single ex-bourbon cask for 30 years and then hand picked by WOW staff at Glasgow Airport, to be bottled and sold exclusively to World of Whiskies @ World Duty Free (Travel Retail). After 30 years of silently maturing this cask only yielded 162 bottles so that is about 15 bottles per WOW outlet if split evenly.

Nose: It's a Balblair alright. Mango, Grapefruit, Pineapple and Papaya riding that tropical wave I know so well. Unlike younger balblairs which are full of fresh estery youthfulness, the fruits in here are deeper and richer, and reduced down into a thick syrupy sauce. Syrupy sweet Pineapple Cubes and Cola Cubes from the sweet shop. The extra time in the wood has paid off with all those lovely notes coming from the oak with a big hit of warm spiced, iced gingerbread loaf. A touch of banana bread in there as well. Loads of sweet toffee, caramel and chocolate like Toffee Poppet sweets (formerly Toffets).

Palate: Chewing on that gingerbread fresh out the oven. Warming, honeyed, spiced. Very rich and the fruits are rich, ripened and reduced again. The tangy sweet zing from the Cola Cubes. Melting caramel and chocolate, with a strong but balanced oak coming in.

Finish: Long with the rich mature oak character, toffee and spices.

Comments: What a lovely old Balblair. This spirit has plenty of mature, rich character but stays with a youthful and fiery friend on the journey. If you love Balblair you shouldn't need to be convinced.

Inver House Tour

Today my brother and I went a tour of Inver House distillers' facilities in Airdrie. As a life long resident of Airdrie and also a massive Balblair fan, I wanted to know more about blended whisky and in particular Inver House's blends in which Balblair is a main component.

This tour was kindly organised by Gillian Gibson, the Global Brand Manager for Balblair and anCnoc single malt whiskies, and I was left in the very capable hands of Mark Williamson, Assistant Blender.

Due to this being a busy and working facility I was not able to take many photographs. Mark us to one of the vast warehouses and we all spoke in depth about whisky, malts, blends, and the industry in general. He showed us round the blending and vatting areas, the bottling plant and finished off with taking us to the blending lab where he had laid out an array of spirits for us to nose and taste.

We got to try new make spirit for Balblair, Knockdhu, Pulteney and Balmenach single malts, as well as new make grain whisky which goes into their core blends. Finally Mark took us through the core blends of Cattos, MacArthurs, Hankey Bannister Original, Hankey Bannister Heritage Blend, and Hankey Bannister 12 year old, and how they are put together with the various components. I urge you to try and seek out a bottle of the Heritage Blend, at 46% it really stands out strong and is pretty tasty. When I get a bottle I will review it.

Again, thanks for Gillian and Mark for facilitating this.

 

Hankey Bannister Blended Scotch Whisky

Information

Distillery: Blended Scotch Whisky
Bottling: Hankey Bannister (Inver House)
Age: NAS
Strength: 40%

Tonight I am doing something out of the ordinary for me, and that is writing notes for a Blended Scotch Whisky, and by that I mean a blend which is comprised of both Malt and Grain Whisky from a variety of distilleries. The blend I am going to look at is Hankey Bannister and the reason I have chosen this is because it is one of the flagship blends which belong to Inver House Distillers (International Beverage), and one which has malt whisky from my favourite distillery Balblair which is one of the distilleries owned by Inver House along side Pulteney (Old Pulteney), Knockdhu (anCnoc, Speyburn and Balmenach, all of which are producing highly regarded single malt whiskies.

Blended Whisky gets a bad reputation among many single malt drinkers and I admit even by myself in the past, however it is worth remembering that single malt whisky only makes up approximately 10% of whisky produced, and the 90% of whisky produced at pretty much most of the distilleries including my beloved Balblair is put into blended whisky. Without blended whisky most of these distilleries would cease to exist, and indeed in the past many distilleries have been mothballed or destroyed as a result of changed in the blended whisky market. So I say to every one who liked blended whisky - please keep drinking it! As long as you due I shall be able to continue drinking my favourite single malts! It is a win win situation.

Anyway, Hankey Bannister is a blended whisky which is made up of single malt from all of the above single malt distilleries, and also with grain whisky from as far as I can research is from both the North British (Edinburgh) and Port Dundas (Glasgow) grain distilleries. However the Port Dundas distillery is now closed so I can only assume this is no longer the case and grain from somewhere else is being used. Maybe Invergordon or Strathclyde? As far as I can find out it is made up of approximately 30% malt whisky of which this is mostly Balblair, and then 70% grain whisky.

Let's taste it then.

Nose: I expected the first thing to hit me was the smell of grain, but I am wrong, and it would be unfair anyway to just shout GRAIN GRAIN GRAIN and not thinking about the other subtleties which are present so that is what I will do. The initial nose gives me sherried malt notes. Praline and Marzipan. Sweet Almonds, milk chocolate and mint chocolate. My nose is very aware of menthol notes from sherried whisky and I can usually detect it quite strongly in most sherried malts. The menthol notes here are starting to come in a way that reminds me of mouth wash and I imagine that is the effect of the mixture with young spirit but in a way that takes the edge of something which woulde be harsher so I think these sherry notes balance out this youthfulness. Vanilla, Oak and some other spicy elements can be detected. I am getting cereal aromas which I suspect are coming from the grain which remind me of shortbread fingers, buttery and biscuity. Some fresher fruits coming through by way of pear and red apple, almost crab apple like. A little mango and the fruit coming to an end with the slight tannin bitterness of orange peel.  Some burnt toffee and at the very back is a whisp of smoke on the horizon and finally some lighter solvent notes which creep out every now and again.

Palate: The low alcohol of 40% is immediately evident on the palate. I am a guy that likes a real kick in the teeth from my whisky but I know I am in the minority here. Very easy and fairly smooth. The dried fruit and sherry notes carry into the mouth fairly easily backed up with that familiar grain kick but nothing offensive. The Vanilla, Oak and spicy elements are there as well.

Finish: The kicker here is the finish is actually suprisingly long and indeed longer than some single malts which are older and stronger. I suspect the young spirit is helping out with this. Slightly chewy with the dark dried fruit, some dark chocolate and that whisp of smoke again.

Comments: You know what? I am not offended by this. I don't think it is something I could sit and savour in the same way I do my single malts  but it has made a change of scenery for me and given me an insight into the greater world of blended whisky and has opened my eyes to some of where Balblair ends up. I would be very interested in trying some of the other Hankey Bannister releases such as their 12 year old and 21 year old but they appear very hard to get hold of in the general UK market. If anyone could send me some samples to review I would greatly appreciate it ;)

Balblair 1995 (travel retail)

Information

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Distillery Bottling
Age: 17
Distilled: 1995
Bottled: 2012
Strength: 46%
Cask: ex-bourbon

As my favourite distillery I am always looking for more Balblair malts, and by collection I mean to drink and enjoy rather than sitting looking pretty on a shelf. While passing through Glasgow Airport on my way to Berlin I was suprised to find they still had some bottles of the 95 vintage, which is a travel retail exclusive so I snapped up a bottle. The icing on the cake is it comes in a lovely full litre size.

Nose

Very estery and fruity as I know and come to expect and love from Balblair. Mangos, Pineapple, Honeydew Melon, passionfruit. Drumstick Lolly sweets. Apple, vanilla and biscuity elements combining to give Hot Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream. Also getting creamy strawberry in something which reminds me of strawberry milkshake, or Campino Sweets. Things geting nuttier with wallnuts and coconut. Creamy again with Nestle Milkybars, and then some fresh hay, and new newspapers.

Taste

Light and refreshing, with a creamy and smooth mouthfeel. Apple punching through and some citrus zest. Melting chocolate on the tongue.

Finish

Sweet and light. Spicy with anise and pepper. Nutty with a touch of oak at the sides.

Comments

A light and refreshing summer dram. Relax in your back garden in the evening sunshine.

Balblair 1992 (cask 3025)

 

Information

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Distillery Only Exclusive
Age: 21
Distilled: 1992
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 57.2%
Cask: ex-bourbon (2nd fill I think)

Nose

The usual balblair mango coming through for me, but it would be interesting to know if I would get mango on a blind taste. Some sharp fruit like freshly cut red apple but easing off to soft dairy fudge ice cream, loaded with vanilla, honey and a little soft almond.

Taste

Coats the mouth easily and is hot and fizzy due to the high alcohol strength but it is a plus to me and really smacks the flavours into you and requires restraint to slowly work through the dram. Eases off in the mouth with fruit, coconut, vanilla and milk chocolate.

Finish

Not much fruit on the finish. More toasted oak, malted biscuits, and dry desicated coconut.

Comments

Fantastic dram. Again Balblair at cask strength is just utterly delicious.

Balblair 1978

Information

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Distillery Bottling
Age: 30
Distilled: 1978
Bottled: 2008
Strength: 46%
Cask: ex-bourbon

Nose

Sweet Nectarine & Pineapple. Dark Chocolate, Toffee & Raisins. Cloves. A very light distant smoke.

Taste

Round and fruity in the mouth, dryer than the nose lets on but still some sweetness there. A little polished oak, some vanilla and a touch of heather.

Finish

Oak but a little more restrained, a little desert spice and a very small touch of peat.

Comments

A very lovely dram, but very restrained, and a very easy sipper; too easy. Would love to have tried something of this age at a higher strength.

Balblair 1990 (cask 1466)

 

Information

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Own Bottling (master of malt exclusive)
Age: 23
Distilled: 1990
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 50.4%
Cask: Ex Islay

Balblair 90 (cask 1466)

Nose

I need to discuss the peat elements up front, and what comes through on the initial nose is smoked pork but leaning towards the saltier, dried, cured direction rather than freshly roasted. Not being a big Islay connoisseur definate hints of Hospital Corridor, but not in a bad way and reminding me more of a spicy clove note than antiseptic.
Mango always comes through for me on Balblairs, but new is a sharp tang of something like apple juice. A tropical note of coconut and sea breeze lingers at the back, with a little vanilla spiced creamy toffee.

Palate

The peat comes to the palate first in an earthy, autumnal way. A little of the coconut and fruit comes through once the mouth gets used to the peat.

Finish

Bright and fruity at first, fading to bonfire smoke and burning tyres. Woody with a little cereal note like wheat.

Balblair 1986 (cask 12648) (G&M 24yo)

Information

Bottling: Gordon & MacPhail
Age: 24
Distilled: 1986
Bottled: 2010
Strength: 50%
Cask: Refill Sherry Hogshead

Nose
Mint Chocolate, Honey, Fruit Cake. Tobacco, and boot polish.

Palate
Mint Chocolate. Sherry. Jersey Cream.

Finish
Medium Finish. Mint Chocolate yet again. Dairy Fudge and a little Ginger as well.

Comments
One of the few sherried malts which does not offend my nose with sulphur notes. Not too complex a profile with the flavours being quite distinct. Very easy drinking with the 50% ABV but could do with being a bit stronger on the palate for me.

Balblair 1989 (First Release)

InformationBottling: Distillery Bottling (First Release)
Age: 18
Distilled: 1989
Bottled: 2007
Strength: 43%
Cask: ex-Bourbon Barrel

Nose

Milk chocolate, hazelnut & raisins in a Cadbury's Fruit & Nut bar. A zing of lemon sponge cake.

Palate

Oaky, Nutty, round but a little watery with the low alcohol of 43%.

Finish

Medium length finish. Coats the mouth like Dairy Cream, a touch of chocolate & vanilla and some malted cereal notes.

Comments

The first edition of the 1989 was unfortunately bottled at only 43% so this requires a little time in the glass to allow the nose to open up fully. I have  never tasted the second edition, and has been a while since I tried the third edition. I will get a hold of and try and third again some time soon.

Balblair 1990 (cask 1463)

Information

Bottling: Distillery Bottling
Age: 22
Distilled: 1990
Bottled: 2012
Strength: 54.1%
Cask: American oak (Previously containing Islay malt)

This is a limited 1990 vintage single cask Balblair released to members of "The Gathering Place" community on the Balblair website. The whisky was matured in an ex-Islay cask; by all account an Ardbeg no less. Bottled at cask strength of 54.1% which is a rare thing from Balblair so I had to snap this up.

 

Nose

 

Buttery Toast with fruit jam. Pineapple Cube sweets, syrupy sweet like Irn Bru or Red Kola drinks. Something like acrylic paint, or a vinyl music record. Some Vanilla cream fudge. Some spice element like Cinnamon and Clove.
 

Taste

 

The fruit dominating here, but with the Pinapple Cubes turning into something more earthy, more like unripe banana and leaves. Dryer than the nose lets on.

 

Finish

 

Long, dry and oaky. Strong stewed black tea. Slightly Earthy. Not detecting any smoke or peat at any point. Certainly an earthiness but not any peaty notes as suggested
 

Comments

Balblair Single Cask and Cask Strength. Enough said. Heaven