
October 14, 2025

WF’s Little Duos, today indie Balblair

Let us see what treasures we hold, and venture forth in search of northern fruits…

Balblair 14 yo 2011/2025 (53.1%, Dràm Mor, PX quarter cask finish, cask #9026, 76 bottles)

Sorry for always writing ‘Dràm Mor’ with only half the required accents, it’s just that while we do have an ‘à’ on a French keyboard, the other one’s sadly missing. I know, lazy typing… Colour: full gold. Nose: the fresh fruitiness of the distillate and the thicker, stickier fruitiness of the PX appear to be getting along peacefully and together sketch out a profile that’s a bit along the lines of sultanas, freshly squeezed orange juice and light honey, with no intrusive woodiness despite it being a quarter cask. With water: peaches poached in wine with pepper. Mouth (neat): powerful, peppery, fairly woody, a bit more disorderly, with notes of Swiss cheese, raisins and spicy orange marmalade. It’s rather unusual, let’s put it that way. With water: little change. Finish: long, even drier, and more peppery too. Dark tobacco. Comments: a somewhat un-Dràm Mor Dràm Mor, this slightly offbeat Balblair in my view. Then again, a PX quarter cask, that’s a bit of an oddball idea, how shall I put it… But we know the next Dràm Mor, whatever it may be, will be in a completely different league.
SGP:561 - 80 points.

Let’s take the opportunity to bring out an older independent release, from a grand vintage at Balblair…

Balblair 18 yo 1990/2008 (58.7%, Riegger’s Selection, hogshead, cask #160)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: we’re straight into full-on Haribo territory here, with peach and apricot liqueurs, fizzy lemonade, candyfloss and the whole jolly bag of sweets. With water: all-in on stewed apples and rhubarb compote. Mouth (neat): some grey pepper, fruit-flavoured sweets, limoncello and a punchy Californian IPA. But it’s the ginger tonic that comes through next and ends up taking the reins a little. With water: the yellow fruits reclaim their place, banana foam sweets, peaches, lemon… Finish: fairly long, with notes of that fashionable spritz everyone’s into these days, the limoncello spritz. Comments: really good stuff, rather easy, zesty and fresh. Balblair’s fruitiness shines through beautifully.
SGP:651 - 85 points.

Hold on, we’ll add an unusual official release for China. So much is happening there these days…

Balblair 1999/2016 (48.1%, OB, for Single Malt Club China, cask #1709, 498 bottles)

I think I had never seen this baby before, but that’s hardly surprising. There were some lovely official 1999s around the mid-2010s. Colour: mahogany. Nose: tons of dried figs, prunes, tamarind jam and toffee. It’s really quite spectacular, like an old PX from a solera that was started ages ago. That said, this extravagant ensemble is then joined by more classic notes of walnut biscuits and pipe tobacco, and even a little aniseed. An extremely exuberant nose and I do wonder, since we’re sort of in China, if there isn’t also a hint of hoisin sauce. Mouth: incredibly powerful at this otherwise rather reasonable strength, with a lovely bitterness to start, then the prunes return with more pepper too, along with heaps of bitter oranges. Black pepper then takes the upper hand, with even a few ashes. Finish: back to tobacco, dark chocolate, and of course, more pepper. Comments: it’s a bit like an old family Armagnac, something like a Ténarèze. I don’t think many malts are made with this level of sherry infusion anymore, but we’re certainly not complaining.
SGP:662 - 88 points.

Check the index of all Balblair we've tasted