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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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December 18, 2025 |
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WF's Little Duos,
today Ballindalloch |
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| Ballindalloch Distillery and their famous worm tubs (Ballindalloch + AI) |
Let’s be honest, we don’t quite have time or let's say tasting slots for all these ‘new cat’ distilleries from Scotland or elsewhere, especially when we still have zillions of Ben Nevis bottlings to get through (just to pick one example at random). We're not even sure WF is still compatible, if it ever was, with the pace and variety of new barley-based product releases. That said, one of the new distilleries that did impress us this year was Ballindalloch. Wow! And to think, at the start of the year, we only knew them by name… Right then, let’s crack on… |
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Ballindalloch 2015/2025 ‘The Castle’ (50%, OB, The Novel, The Castle, 1st & 2nd Fill Bourbon, 2,400 bottles) 
Apparently, this is tied to a book by one John Sutherland, though that doesn’t ring many bells on this side of the Channel. I readily admit that it’s probably something we ought to be ashamed of, rather than proud. Now, careful—some casks seem to have been ex-peaters, so we may be looking at a bit of in-cask blending here, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves… Colour: pale white wine. Nose: it’s fresh, taut, fermentary, very close to the barley, apple, and sourdough side of things, although there are indeed smoky notes that feel distinctly grafted-on. Pears and ashes. Mouth: really very good, though it does come across as a blended malt on the palate, which of course doesn’t take anything away from the overall quality. A wee touch of Monkey Shoulder ‘Smokey Monkey’. Finish: long, rather lovely actually, balanced, but with more overt peat. Comments: the peat has only grown in strength, and this is a very good young malt, no question about it. But is it really a ‘single malt’? Answers on a postcard…
SGP:554 - 83 points. |
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Ballindalloch 2016/2024 (61.8%, OB, for Austria, bourbon barrel, cask #233) 
Go on then, try saying ‘Ballindalloch’ with a Salzburg accent and see what happens… Colour: white wine. Nose: what we liked so much in the one we tasted earlier this year (for Germany) is right here again, fresh bread, focaccia, baker’s yeast, apple and pear peelings, wee berries (rowan, service tree, holly), plus medlar and jujube. You do have to dig a little, but it’s worth it. With water: plaster, chalk, cement, slate, then freshly cut grass and a good handful of fresh barley. Mouth (neat): it’s a little strong but only just (S.!) on earth, bread dough, tart apples, white pepper, even a touch of papier-mâché. It’s a little austere on the palate for now, fair to say, but that’s often a good sign. With water: and there we go, the cavalry arrives right on cue—salted apples, olive biscuits, anchovy crackers, in short a superb salinity that was completely unexpected. Finish: very long, even saltier, tingling, ultra-precise and taut. Comments: clearly the polar opposite of a consensual travel retail malt (BTW what a disaster this year in travel retail, prices and all the rest), but we adore this utterly uncompromising profile, which could easily hold its own alongside the great gentians, great mezcals, great piscos, great white marcs…
SGP:461 - 88 points. |
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