Balblair 1997
| Category | SINGLE MALT |
| Distillery | Balblair |
| Bottler | Distillery Bottling |
| Bottling Series | - |
| Vintage | 1997 |
| Bottled Year | 2011 |
| Age | - |
| Cask Type | 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels |
| Cask Number | - |
| Bottles Released | - |
| ABV | 43.0% |
| Volume | 1000 ml |
| Label | - |
| Country | Scotland |
| Region | Highlands |
Flavor Profile
Tasting Notes
Colour
full gold
air Nose
yesssss, it must be Old Clynelish. Peaty like a Laphroaig from the 60’s, starting on old walnuts, metal polish and leather as well as cigar box, it gets then more resinous and mineral at the same time. Notes of gunflints, fir honeydew, unlit Havana cigar, fern… Extremely complex. Then it’s all on orange marmalade, then even more on unlit cigars (amazing), then fully on parsley and lovage, then it’s rather coffee beans, Smyrna raisins and caramel, then, then, then… (censored by the anti-maltoporn brigade)…
restaurant Palate
excellent attack, vibrant, nutty, bitter and peaty like no other distillery. A lot of bitter orange peel, smoked tea, bitter caramel, toasted bread… Granted, it’s probably not as magnificent as on the nose and less multidimensional but it’s still very excellent. And still quite malty and almost hot after all these years. OBE is more obvious on the palate than on the nose, that is. Gets cleaner after a little breathing, more definite, more resinous as well. Mastic? Argan oil? Interesting notes of gin-orange, chlorophyll chewing-gum… Dry martini? Okay, this isn’t James Bond so let’s switch to the finish, which is amazingly long for an old bottle, resinous, a little bitter like some German herb liqueurs (no names) and finally curiously meaty (grilled beef). Wow, this one was entertaining, to say the least. The palate was one class below the nose but the whole is truly beautiful whisky. Had a forger made this one up, he’d have been the stupidest forger in the world. 93 points . MUSIC – Recommended listening: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra play a gem composed by the duke's son, Mercer, in 1941. It's called, er... Blue Serge.mp3 . Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas. May 3, 2007 TASTING – TWO YOUNG BALBLAIRS + FOUR OLD ONES Balblair 1997 (43%, OB, 2007) Here’s Balblair’s brand new bulky bottle. Traditionalists don’t like it but I do – proof that I’m no old dusty blasé sipper. Yeah!
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