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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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June 12, 2026 |
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The Time Warp Sessions,
today independent Balblair
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The fruitiest malt in the north of Scotland, without a doubt. Today, we’ll be tasting a 2008 and a 1990 vintage, does that suit you? |
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Balblair 17 yo 2008/2026 (53%, Maltbarn, bourbon cask, 86 bottles) 
Over time, what we seek in Balblair, apart from the heavily sherried versions, is pure fruitiness, sharply defined and free of embellishment. Easy enough to say, but we know it is not necessarily quite so easy to produce. Colour: very pale white wine. This is starting well. Nose: yes, this is exactly it, mandarins and bananas, with tiny touches of chervil and flat-leaf parsley, even a little watercress, and finally a small nod northwards, towards Clynelish, with a delicate note of beeswax. So far, we like it a great deal. With water: it folds back onto the citrus fruits, oranges and clementines, and all of this is perfect and eminently Balblairian. Between us, we would say it resembles an OB from some fifteen years ago. Mouth (neat): perfectly a copy of the nose, banana, citrus fruits, little herbs, a touch of sorrel, very light waxiness. It is as cheerful as a tomcat that has managed to open a packet of kibble all by itself. With water: once again the citrus fruits take command, this time joined by touches of guava and papaya. You could mix this with good rum, and you would instantly have a lovely variation on a daiquiri. A somewhat potent variation, I grant you. Finish: good length, on citrus fruits and lemon balm, along with honeyed touches that round out the signature. Comments: this is not a broad-shouldered whisky, but it is a very precise Balblair, exactly what we had been looking for. Excellent.
SGP:641 - 88 points. |
Now then, this one could keep us talking for quite a while… |
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Balblair 21 yo 1990/2011 (57.9%, The Gillies Club Australia, 34th bottling, cask #169, 300/582 bottles) 
A bottling organised by the Scottish Liqueur Centre. Let me remind you that the Gillies Club brought together some of the keenest whisky enthusiasts in Australia and around the world, and that most of the bottlings they selected for their club have become downright legendary. This one is more recent than most of them, but that means… absolutely nothing. Oh, and I am very fond of this statement in large letters on the labels: “NOT FOR RESALE”. A breath of fresh air in this world of brutes… Colour: gold. Nose: the exact counterpart to the Maltbarn, this one being much more evolved, with vegetables and metallic notes, turnip, salsify, sourdough, yeasts, wort, very old white wine… It will need water to bring a little order to proceedings. With water: lightly spicy tomato sauce, rather Tuscan in style. How amusing, though we do remember that tomato is a fruit. Sulphury traces. Mouth (neat): it is almost the opposite of the nose at first, with pink grapefruit and very light notes of sour cherry, but then it heads back towards the vegetables, cooked courgette, beer… The fact remains that the grapefruit nevertheless keeps everything in balance. With water: a triumphant return of the citrus fruits, bringing a little order, though the vegetables remain lurking in the background. It rather recalls those orange sauces served with poultry. Finish: good length, with no major change. Old sweet wine and mead thereafter, followed by bitter orange and ‘mineral’ pepper right at the end, to the point where one even finds a little peat. But that is impossible, is it not? Comments: this is absolutely not a classic Balblair, it is less defined, undoubtedly more chaotic (forgive my frankness) but in the end that is part of its charm. It nevertheless remains, in my view, a bit overshadowed by the purity of the Maltbarn.
SGP:561 - 86 points. |
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