Balblair 27 year old 1993 SMWS 70.42

Yesterday, it was a 44.4%abv 26yo Balblair. Today, it's a 60.2%abv 27yo Balblair. From one extreme to another. And yes, I did try them side by side.

While yesterday's Cadenhead lost 60-65% of its barrel contents, 35-40% of this barrel's whisky evaporated over a similar time period. The Cadenhead gave up plenty of alcohol, while this SMWS lost a lot of water. Was this refill barrel coopered better/tighter? Or did it have a nice cool warehouse corner? SMWS named it "Elegant, dark and stormy". I've had elegant Bablairs, but no dark nor stormy stuff from the distillery. Not sure if I'm intrigued or doubtful.

Distillery: Balblair
Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)
Region: Northern Highlands
Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 27 years (Jan 1993 - 2020)
Maturation: refill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 70.42 "Elegant, dark and stormy"
Outturn: 180 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 60.2%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Paper, broth, and metal on the nose. Some dried leaves too. It feels closed and hot, like many green-bottle-era Cadenheads. The palate is more approachable. Tart citrus fruits, sweet white fruits. It gets tangier with time, but says hot throughout. It's all a bit vague though, like the finish, which is very hot and kinda fruity-ish.

DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose remains brothy and metallic. Mineral. Still a hint of paper. Subtle notes of brown sugar and lemons swim around in the back. The palate improves, sweet and buoyantly tart. Limes, Demerara, lemon peel-infused honey. It finishes sweet and slightly tart, without any other clear notes.

I'm hesitant to apply additional water to long-aged whisky, but...

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Yeasty, bready, and floral, with hints of lemon candy and caramel. Not the nose I expected from a 27 year old single malt. Meanwhile, I think the palate is starting to collapse. Salt, pepper, Demerara, and squeeze of lemon are all that remain. It finishes with honey and salt.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Not elegant, not dark, and not stormy, this whisky's money spot is probably around 48%abv. But even then, it couldn't compete with yesterday's Cadenhead. I tried them side-by-side, waiting to sip the 26yo until this SMWS was diluted to 46%abv in order to allow for a more accurate comparison. This 27yo was fine, and I am glad they didn't re-rack it into in a recharred sauternes octave, but Balbair at this age can be so much more.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???

Rating - 81 (diluted)

Balblair 26 year old 1990 Cadenhead Authentic Collection

I adore when Balblair goes all fruity on me. The bright, perky spirit can stand up to bourbon barrels and sherry casks, for decades, in well-managed warehouses. Underwhelmed by the official (and new to my brain, even though the whisky has existed for four years) 18-year-old after trying it recently in Japan, I've elected to go with a pair of independently bottled single casks this week. One 26 years old, the other 27. Both aged in ex-bourbon barrels. Yay?

The angels had their way with today's 26yo, spiriting away with 60-65% of the barrel's original contents. Cadenhead rescued the remaining 76 liters (108 bottles), with the resulting whisky registering at 44.4%abv.

Distillery: Balblair

Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)

Region: Northern Highlands

Bottler: Cadenhead

Range: Authentic Collection

Age: 26 years (1990 - Oct 2016)

Maturation: bourbon barrel

Outturn: 108 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 44.4%

(thank you to My Annoying Opinions for the sample!)

NOTES

The nose shows a well-balanced combination of spirit and cask. Baked apples, citrons, and lychee mix with gentle toasted oak spices. Key lime pie and cardamom pods arise after 30 minutes.

My handwritten notes for the palate begin with "custard, toffee, custard, toffee custard", but not really toffee custard though, instead it's a citrus and lychee custard. I dunno, it makes sense to me. Hints of salt, herbs, and earth offer some depth, as does a brightly tart pineapple note that builds with time.

Lovely tart limes and pineapple fill the finish, with earth and toasted oak cameos in the background.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Very very very very drinkable. A bottle of this would be a lot of trouble here. My Annoying Opinions seems to have survived the encounter, and his notes (and score) are very similar to mine, so you know we are correct. (And for you unbelievers, see Whiskybase.)

One more word about ABV before I depart...

Whenever I see cask strength releases with ABVs below 45%, I often ponder "WTF happened to the cask?", sometimes publicly. I also frequently complain about whiskies being bottled at 40%abv. Meanwhile, here I am, loving this single malt's 44.4% strength. Is this hypocritical? Would this whisky have been better a few years younger and slightly stronger? Maybe, maybe. But I attempt to comment about whiskies on a case-by-case basis. Here the ABV works, possibly because this Balblair wasn't watered down, and probably because the spirit stuck it out across 26 years. I'll try to keep an open mind about ABV, but companies that purposely water down whisky that's been aged for decades are doing everyone and everything (including their product and brand) a disservice, everything except for their bottom line. So it will continue. Long live Balbair and Cadenhead, though!

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???

Rating - 89

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Barrell Seagrass Rye, 59.92%abv batch

Yes, Barrell with two Ls for those of you who are not actively soaking in the American whiskey scene. Not a drop of Barrell has passed through these lips until now, though these eyes have seen many Barrell bottles on liquor store shelves for nearly a dec--

Sorry for that last sentence, I'm straining for a way to introduce a blend of US and Canadian ryes that have been finished in Martinique Rhum Agricole casks, Madeira barrels, and apricot brandy casks. Well, I guess there's an intro. The "whiskey" sure seems like a cask strength cocktail in a bottle, but I'm willing to give it a try because I like rye. And I don't despise Martinique Rhum, Madeira, and apricot brandy. And a portion of some of the sales actually goes towards the conservation and restoration of seagrass. And, what the hell, why not?

Company: Barrell Craft Spirits

Range: Seagrass
Type: blended American and Canadian Rye whiskies

Region: ??? and ???
Age: I wrote "9yo" on the sample label, but I don't know where I got that info from

Mashbill: ???

Maturation: American oak, first maturation. Second maturation: a mix of Martinique Rhum, Madeira, and apricot brandy vessels. Finally, these are blended together.

Alcohol by Volume: 59.92%

(thanks to Dr. Springbank for the sample!)

NOTES

The nose is aggressively floral, and is loaded with cotton candy and lemon candy. Then there's butterscotch, orange juice, citronella, and nectarine skin. After 30 minutes, the fruits are replaced by marshmallows and toasted coconuts.

There's more actual rye in the palate, ultra high-rye rye, like a mix of MGP's 95% bill and Alberta's 100% bill. It's very peppery and minty, almost mentholated. Hints of oranges, dried apricots, and mothballs offer highlights and angles. It's certainly not as sweet as the nose leads on.

It finishes with dried apricots, lemon bars, menthol, and tabasco sauce.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This assemblage (pronounced the French way) is difficult to opine on, much like this odd Ben Nevis from Le Gus't. The nose is kind of insane, with the finishing casks taking over and not even remotely coming together. But those casks barely touch the palate, and for that I am grateful. Though I'm not rushing out to buy a Seagrass bottle, I would absolutely drink this again. Perhaps a batch will come along that will inspire me to get out my credit card.

Availability - Just USA, I think
Pricing - $70 - $95
Rating - 84 (maybe?)

Ballantine's 23 year old blended whisky, for Travel Retail

Ballantine's 17 year old is one of the best blends on the market, when bottled at 43%abv. At 40%abv, it is not. Unfortunately, I think the 43%abv version is only available in the US (though it might be down to 40% here too). When I was in Japan five years ago, the 17 was only ~$45, but I didn't buy it because of the 40%. This year it was up to $80ish, even with the great exchange rate, but at the same strength. So I did not buy it this time either. (Though there was a tempting 48%abv special edition.)

Meanwhile, the whisky section of all the Haneda Travel Retail shops were barren:

They certainly had no Ballantine's 23-year old, watered-down to 40%abv, likely containing 23+ year old Glenburgie, Miltonduff, Scapa, and Glentauchers. So I went in on 2oz of a bottle split of the 23 just to see what I missed out on.

Brand: Ballantine's
Ownership: Pernod Ricard

Type: blended whisky

Age: minimum 23 years
Maturation: first-fill American oak

Bottled: 2019?

Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? probably
e150a? probably
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The mild, well-produced nose starts off with yuzu, wheatgrass, and caramel. Small notes of butterscotch, peach, and corn chips stay back. Give it 30 minutes, though, and it's all vanilla frosting and cream soda.

Too bad the palate goes a different direction, extremely woody right from the start. Vanilla, maple, bitter oak, a little bit of paper, too. Notes of simple syrup, bitter citrus, and ginger powder show up now and then.

Sweet and tangy, the finish leans mostly on vanilla, cream soda, and mint candy.

On the rocks, it's all vanilla and pencil shavings.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

There's an official Ballantine's video about the 23yo, and I lost count of how many times "vanilla" was spoken in it. Yeah, there's vanilla, so much so that it almost tastes like an NAS blended Canadian whisky. May I repeat this is 23-year-old scotch.

I had expected to write, "If only it was bottled at 43%abv...", but now that I've actually tried the whisky, nah. Three more alcohol points wouldn't have made much of a difference, and I'm not sure how that oak would have croaked at 46%abv. The nose was nice though.

Availability - It has escaped Duty Free!
Pricing - $120 (Japan) - $225 (Europe)
Rating - 78

Balvenie 15 year old Single Barrels: Bourbon vs Sherry

Many of us remember the Balvenie 15yo Single Barrel, the stronger, older sibling to the 12yo Doublewood, back when that Barrel was of the bourbon sort. This bourbon cask expression existed for at least 23 years before it was retired, and traded out for a sherry cask version in 2015. That more expensive version lasted less than seven years. It appears to have been replaced by the even more expensive 16yo French Oak in 2022.

The evolution matches the times:

• The 15 year old single bourbon barrel listed the exact distillation and bottling dates, and was sometimes older than its age statement.
• The 15 year old single sherry barrel did not list the distillation and bottling dates.
• The 16 year old French Oak is not a single cask, is wine cask finished, and has a slightly lower ABV.

I had the opportunity to try the bourbon version of the 15 about a half dozen times (as recently as 2017 when I found a bottle in a neighborhood bar), and tried the 15yo sherry barrel twice. All eight barrels were pleasantly tasty casual sippers, which is right on brand for Balvenie. Had I known the older version was going to vanish, and had the newer version been cheaper, I would have been happy to buy a bottle of each. But here I am, in 2023, sourcing a sample of both for this Taste Off.

15 year old Single Barrel bourbon cask 11950 - 47.8%abv 10 Dec 1993 to 12 Oct 2009	15 year old Single Barrel sherry cask 1900 - 47.8%abv
A mix of honeydew, honey, peach candy, and vanilla ice cream appears first in the nose. Cracked black pepper and smoky barrel char fills in the background. It gets more floral (roses) with time.	The nose starts with flower blossoms and raw almonds, followed by honey, nectarines, and strawberry candy. Milky chocolate and orange peels appear after 20 minutes. Butter caramel at the 30-minute mark.
The sweet and fruity palate offers up Juicy Fruit gum, pear juice, pineapple juice, and toasty oak spices. Hints of chile peppers and vanilla slowly emerge. It all gets tarter and sweeter with time.	The palate is very salty, and not that sweet. Limes and chiles, first. Dried apples and dried apricots second. Leaner and meaner than expected.
The pineapples, peaches, vanilla, and chile peppers stick around through the finish.	The finish gets sweeter while holding onto the salt and tart limes. Maybe some dried apples too.
Summary: Lots of oak, lots of fruit. I'm not sure they ever balance out, but it is another "tasty casual sipper", as referenced above. More of a drinker than a thinker.	Summary: Not a contemporary sherry cask, much to my surprise. I expected a sherry-seasoned barrel to be much different than this. The palate is pretty simple, but I appreciate its spartan character.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Contrary to my expectations, the older bourbon barrel has a style more of this decade than the more recent sherry barrel. I'm sort of torn about which one I like more. Part of me likes that an austere(!) Balvenie exists, but I could drink the fruity sweet one all day...

The bourbon barrel gets the edge! Emotions win out over the intellect today (and every day). Also, the bourbon barrel's palate was more complex (intellect!).

If you find a version of either edition in the wild, at non-secondary prices, it should provide solid quality and plenty of character. Keep in mind more than 2000 of these barrels were bottled, so expect variety!

RATINGS:
15 year old Single Barrel, bourbon cask 11950 - 85

15 year old Single Barrel, sherry cask 1900 - 84

Aultmore 9 year old 2008 Sovereign, cask HL13138 for K&L

After this week's two DCL-era Aultmores, all I'm able to offer you is a review of a contemporary Aultmore, a 9-year-old single sherry cask that butts in at 59.8%abv, with a color as dark or darker than those two elders. Back in 2018 it was offered exclusively by K&L Wine Merchants for the very reasonable sum of $55. Those days are far behind us all.

Distillery: Aultmore

Owner: Bacardi Limited (via John Dewar & Sons)

Region: Speyside (Moray)

Bottler: Hunter Laing

Range: The Sovereign
Age: 9 years old (June 2008 - Aug 2017)
Maturation: Sherry butt

Cask #: HL13138

Outturn: 631 bottles

Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
Alcohol by Volume: 59.8%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

It has a vibrant nose, full of raspberry candy, orange peel, apricot jam, and A LOT of alcohol. Minor notes of flowers and metal develop with time. The palate brings the heat as well, but it's also sort of bourbony, with a mix of cherry jam, cinnamon candy, and honey. Maybe a few apricots too. The hot finish leans more towards cherries and nectarines, sweet and tangy.

I'm going to be careful with this youngling at first...

DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Yep, oloroso cask-aged bourbon on the nose: vanilla, maple, walnuts, and raspberries. Though one can find hints of apple jam and bitter citrus, the palate is so woody. Charred lumber and extreme tannins. It finishes with apple peels and tannins.

Maybe a little more water will help.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL cask strength whisky

A whole new nose of flowers, pears, prunes, and mint. Meanwhile the palate is all bitter oak and unripe pears, and the finish is sour and tannic.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Keep this one neat as dilution wrecks the palate. I like the strange bourbon-like style that this Aultmore shows at full strength, especially since it's a fruity bourbon style. In fact, I like this whisky a little more than Wednesday's 30yo! It's too hot and oaky for it to be a regular drinker for me, but it's more enjoyable than many officially-bottled NAS cask strength sherried things from more popular distilleries.

For other takes, see the reviews by Whisky Musings and Whiskey Jug. At least we three can agree the price was right.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $55
Rating - 83 (neat only)

Aultmore 30 year old 1989 Single Cask Nation, cask 2459

Designed by the fellow who built Craigellachie, and originally run by Oban's owners, Aultmore has since passed through relatively few hands. John Dewar & Sons bought Aultmore on the distillery's 25th birthday in 1923. Dewar & Sons was then purchased by Distillers Company Limited, which later became United Distillers and Diageo. When Diageo had to sell off some of its holdings in 1998, the Dewar's portfolio found a buyer in Bacardi Limited.

On Monday, I tried an Aultmore distilled by Distillers Company Limited, and it was excellent. So, here's another one from that era, also matured in a sherry cask, bottled by J&J of Single Cask Nation. It's one of the oldest whiskies SCN has offered so far, and comes in at a zippy 57.1%abv.

Distillery: Aultmore
Owner at time of distillation: Distillers Company Limited

Current Owner: Bacardi Limited (via John Dewar & Sons)
Region: Speyside (Moray)

Bottler: Single Cask Nation
Age: 30 years old (June 1989 - Nov 2019)
Maturation: first fill sherry butt

Cask #: 2459

Outturn: 465 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 57.1%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose has dark chocolate and dried cherries. Walnuts and smoked fish. Sort of meaty too. The palate arrives hot, very salty, and a little sulfury. It's earthy and leafy, with a hint of tart limes. It finishes a little brighter at first, with grapefruits, raspberries, and salt. Then it darkens with wood smoke and sulfur.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or < 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose reads cleaner now, mostly a variety of dried berries, with milk chocolate in the middle, and the flints in the far back. Less sulfur in the palate, too. Salty and peppery, with mild bitterness. Some toasted almonds and simple syrup in the background. The finish holds onto the grapefruit note, and gains a sweet date or two. Bitter oak rumbles in the back.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though this one reads even smokier and earthier than Monday's 35yo, I don't think that's due to the spirit. I think it's sulfur, which isn't a dealbreaker for me because I often enjoy dirty casks. Here the 'S' word doesn't dominate, in fact I like how it plays out in the nose. Dilution washes it nearly away, but oak creeps into the palate and finish at 46%abv.

The "medicinal, tart, herbal, and intense" character found in Monday's Aultmore has been mostly silenced by the cask. This 30yo's intensity comes from the heat and oak. I wonder what this cask was like 5-10 years earlier.

For a different take on this whisky, the Whiskybase reviewers seem to adore this thing, though the sample size is small.

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - ???
Rating - 82