Reviews

Nose: Fine old oak and citrus oils (orange, grapefruit, lime). Dried fruits, very mild spice notes (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg) and some floral/honeyed notes. Water opens the whisky well making the aromas bloom, cutting the alcohol presence (which is mild to begin with anyway) but not damaging the profile too much. If anything it emphasizes the oak cask and citrus. Palate: Fruity and soft with apricots, plums, sweet orange and dry sherry in the arrival. Baking spices and some tangy tannin show up in the development but this just adds complexity and balance without veering into bitterness. Sweetness re-emerges in the later development together with a slight eucalyptus note, and the sweetness is emphasized by a dash of water. The texture is good but not amazing. Finish: Medium/Long. Fruity, oaky and mildly spicy. This is the third bottle of three vintage Balblair expressions I have opened recently and it is the least impressive of the triumvirate. However in the august company of the stunning 1991/2018 and the excellent 1989/2010, that means very little. The 1991 is like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and the 1989 his “Sunflowers”. In comparison this is 'merely' the “Bedroom in Arles”. There is a definite quality of youth in comparison to the two other whiskies, but it is an expressive and energetic youth, and not brash callowness. If tasted in comparison to much younger whiskies this would certainly seem more mature. This is also the only one of the three Balblair whiskies that I would definitely recommend reducing, as a dash of water develops it while taking nothing away, bringing forth sweetness and adding complexity. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)

Nose: Very old, fragrant oak saturated with high quality sherry. Powdered ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried fruits, hazelnuts and citrus peel. With time in the glass a heavy floral aroma emerges with honeyish overtones. It’s like vanilla and honeysuckle, but aged. The nose just keeps improving over time and never seems to run short of new elegant facets to display. 92/100 Palate: The arrival is soft but a firm structure appears as it develops. In the development I found oak, dried fruits, citrus, baking spices and a great deal of supple tannin that treads a fine line between powerful flavor and astringency. Later still there is a little white pepper, caraway seed and sweet chewing tobacco. The texture is oily and heavy. 90/100 Finish: Very Long. Tobacco, spices and fruit. 91/100 This is a magisterial old whisky that demands focused attention and respectful tasting. On initially opening the bottle I feared it was too tannic but a few days of rest and a breath of fresh oxygen in the bottle has achieved perfect balance. Complexity and sophistication are the summary words here, as the 27 year old components of oak wood, sherry and Balblair distillate combine into a mélange that delights the senses and seems to never end. Whisky does not have to be old to be great, but this is really great old whisky. Reduction kills the nose and brings out too much bitter tannin on the palate, and the dram never recovers. I generally add a dash of water to most whiskies, but this one is definitely best taken neat. When I bought this in 2020 it was AUD$270, and from Whiskybase it looks like the current price is around twice that. If you can find it for $200-250 US$/Euro it would be a steal. “Outstanding” : 91/100 (5 stars)

Nose: Initially the nose is reserved and tight, but time and a drop of water helps it along. Eventually it presents green apple, marmalade and lemon over a cereal background and after a long rest some sweet floral aromas show up. I thought the nose was the best part of the experience. Palate: The arrival is momentarily sweet and fruity but this is quickly followed by a cascade of forceful hot spices (ginger, clove, white pepper). Fruit, oatmeal and malt lurk in the shadows. When tasted neat it is a little too much but with water the intensity dials down to a pleasant buzz. The texture is good. Finish: Medium/Long. The spicy notes from the palate linger together with vanilla sponge cake. This is an acceptable blended malt that does the job but is not particularly outstanding. The profile certainly has some “highland” elements, particularly the nose, and with a dash of water it louches very pleasingly so the malts in here are nicely au natural. It benefits from reduction and a good rest in the glass but it never really captured me. If the palate had been a little less aggressively spicy I would be rating this a lot higher. I bought this bottle in 2020 and when I opened it the cork was not making a very good seal so initially I wondered if it had degraded over time, but having now read many reviews I think what I have is a pretty typical specimen. It’s OK for slow sipping but I think the contents of my bottle are destined to encounter a lot of dry ginger ale. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

Nose: Very light honey, citrus fruits, cigarette tobacco and black tea rather than smoke. This is one of the least smoky Highland Parks I’ve encountered. It is there, but you have to leave it to rest in the glass for a long time before it becomes apparent. Palate: Ah, there’s the smoke but it’s sooty rather than peaty. Brown sugar, orange marmalade, pepper, ginger, bitter tannin and salted plums. There is a sour note that persists and the texture is average. Finish: Fleeting. Blink and you miss it. The sour malt note from the palate and a little ashy smoke are the sum total. Dull, generic, almost ugly. This is everything you fear a TRE whisky will be. With time in the glass the nose does evolve and it is the best part of the experience. However it cruelly promises the same experience in the mouth but then the whisky betrays you. The palate never goes anywhere positive and instead gains an even greater over-brewed black tea note with time. I tried adding a dash of water but all it did was dilute the profile with no other benefit. Like the Highland Park “Harald” expression I recently reviewed, this was a grey-market 1 liter bottle originally issued exclusively for travel retail. Thankfully, unlike the Harald, this did not suffer the same cork degradation and tainting so at least it’s just as uninteresting as Edrington originally intended. Yawn. “Average” : 75/100 (2.5 stars)

NOTE: This review is based on a spoiled bottle so feel free to ignore it. Nose: Raisins, vanilla, earthy honey, orange zest and a lot of oak. There are intrusive musty, decayed wood and sulphur-like notes. Palate: Bitter and tannic arrival, vanilla, sultanas and hot spice. Again there is a cloud of mustiness on the palate that spoils any enjoyment. The texture is OK but unremarkable. Finish: Medium/Short. Bitter ale, liquorice, tannin. I bought this bottle on the grey market in 2014 (it was originally a TRE release) but I only opened it two weeks ago. The cork was in *very* poor condition (it was as wet as a soaked sponge and literally crumbled apart in my hand) and the whisky is clearly oxidized and tainted. I would not be surprised if the bottle was stored on its side for a while before I bought it. I know the Highland Park whisky profile well enough to be able to dig through to what this whisky was probably once like, and there is nothing to make me think it was ever particularly interesting so I’m giving it an average score but like I said above, ignore this if you wish because I can't give an accurate, objective rating. “Average” : 78/100 (2.75 stars)

Nose: The nose is fragrantly fruity with aromas of pineapple, apricot, peach, green apple, mandarin, and pu-erh tea. There is also a delicate, elegant floral quality with iris, jonquil and frangipani apparent, particularly after it has rested in the glass for a while. A small dash of water opens the nose but do not add too much. Palate: Gentle fruity sweetness and just a little ginger spice in the arrival. The palate expands wonderfully in the development showing milk chocolate, a touch of salty caramel, orange liqueur, barley sugar and honey. The texture is good but a shade on the thin side. The black tea note that was present on the nose is reflected in the late development as well, and it continues into the finish. As with the nose, a couple of drops of water is beneficial. Finish: Medium/Short. Briny fruit salad with some herbal and tannic notes, but these are not intrusive. Despite its immediate impression of being very short there is a lingering barley sugar note. The nose on this expression is not “big” and demonstrative, but neither is it lacking. It is light and subtle but there is an undeniable, sinewy strength of character. It is a gymnast, not a wrestler. This bottling would have been better at 46% abv or more, but given that it is a 22 year old vintage release that was perhaps not possible. This is a delightful single malt that dates from the era when Balblair was still releasing vintage bottlings, before the owner of Inver House (the immediate managing company) decreed that vintages were too confusing for consumers to understand and too time consuming to manage, so in future only age statement whiskies would be released. Some of the old vintages were admittedly not that great, but most were very good and sadly none of the new age statement whiskies has matched the best of the old vintage releases in quality. This is very pleasant and easy to enjoy, and a good example of how sprightly and ethereal old highland whisky can be. I have only just opened this so it has been sleeping in the bottle for 15 years. It is getting better with every pour so I will post a follow-up in a few weeks once the level has dropped and it has properly woken up. The rating may increase at that time. When I bought this bottle in 2013 it was AUD$99 but nowadays on the secondaries it is 4 times that, however even at AUD$400 it is well worth it. “Very Good” : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

Nose: Vanilla, apple, pear, citrus, light floral honey, buttery malt. There is a slight nip of alcohol when neat but this dissipates with time in the glass, and even more quickly if you add a drop or two of water. The nose is a shade maltier than I remember it being in the past. Palate: Sweet, soft and fruity arrival all on apples and pears. Sweet malt shows through in the development and there is a hint of barrel char. The texture is very good being creamy, slightly oily and full. As with the nose this whisky can take a dash of water even though it is only a 40% abv expression. It’s the oiliness of the texture that makes it stand up to dilution. Finish: Short. Creamy and mildly fruity with pears and a hint of mint in the aftertaste. I last reviewed Glenfiddich 12 here on Distiller eight years ago and that was the last bottle I had until opening this one (which was a gift). The label has changed so I’m posting this review under the new Distiller listing but as far as I can tell from memory and looking at my old review this whisky is essentially the same 12 year old that Glenfiddich has been making for decades. It’s a great all round whisky that needs to make no apologies. Critics of this expression just don’t get it and in all honesty if I had to choose a desert island single malt it would probably be this. Seriously. I think a steady diet of any one premium whisky would become tiresome after a while but I could drink Glenfiddich 12 like water every day for the rest of my life without getting tired of it. I’m increasing my previous rating by one percentage point. This is, quite simply, “good” whisky that is sold at a very reasonable price and is universally available. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Nose: Highly sherried (raisins, fruitcake, mixed citrus peel, walnuts), well defined, voluptuous peat smoke. Blood oranges, chocolate, nutmeg, cinnamon, dark honey, old leather and tobacco. It’s a “big” sherried nose that is more like a heavy Speyside (say, Dailuaine or Benrinnes) than an Orkney malt and it actually does seem to smell “dark”. A drop of water does the nose no harm at all and brings out a pleasingly complex mélange of the aromas that are more distinct when neat. Palate: Sweet wine arrival with lots of dark cherries, red grapes, berries and sherry (were PX casks used in this?). Salted caramel tarts and pastel de nata. Pine tree resin and eucalyptus in the development but these herbal notes are tightly restrained by the cloak of sherry sweetness. Espresso, dark chocolate and tobacco. The texture is heavy and full. As with the nose, adding water does no harm and I’d recommend it because it makes the texture as creamy as a fine soufflé. Finish: Medium/Long. Sweet spice, sweet oak tannins, nutmeg and peat smoke. It is richer and somehow has more density when reduced, and water brings out a very nice cinnamon aftertaste. This whisky was released the year before Highland Park’s “The Light” and the two whiskies could not be more different. Whereas The Light is a statement of raw distillery character this is a massively cask-driven crowd-pleaser that blasts out sherry maturation at full orchestral volume. Whether you prefer this or The Light would be entirely a personal preference because in terms of production both are faultless. They just express diametrically opposed maturation styles and philosophies. My only hesitation (and caution) is that this whisky, whilst lovely, is only just recognizable as Highland Park. It is a magnificent sherried whisky but it could be mistaken for the product of any number of Highland (or specifically Speyside) distilleries were it not for the telltale presence of Highland Park peat-smoke. Nevertheless, it is delicious. “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)

Nose: Light, almost ethereal malt with a citrus tang. Vanilla, green apple, the brine that mussels come packed in. Highland Park's honey-sweet signature is there but in a subtle manner. No trace of peat smoke at all but maybe a suggestion of barrel-char. The nose starts off quite austere but expands when the dram is allowed to rest in the glass for a while. It relaxes and deepens even more with the addition of a dash of water. Palate: Sweet, crisp malt and some definite smoke on the arrival. Tangy, bittersweet citrus (yellow grapefruit, sour orange) appear rapidly as it develops and this becomes a major facet of the palate. There are grassy herbal notes and fruit salad, but the fruits are all not quite sweet – sometimes bordering on astringent. Seashore and mineralic tastes with oysters, brine and a little white pepper. Adding water considerably softens the profile and brings out a touch more ashy smoke and barley-sugar notes which support the bright fruits excellently. The texture is creamy and has good weight both neat and when reduced. Finish: Medium/Long. Crisp unripe fruits trailing into chocolate and a distant memory of peat smoke. The profile of the finish is little changed by reduction but water does extend the length. An unusual Highland Park that it is all bourbon-cask matured and so lacks some of the usual heavier features of the distillery’s whisky profile. It’s quite medicinal and coastal in both nose and palate, and it reminded me of non-peated Caol Ila. There is a sharp, crystalline quality throughout and I thought it was refreshing and reviving when neat but more approachable with just a small dash of water. I added water after two neat nosings and sips and discovered that the longer I left the dram to rest the more I enjoyed it. Whether this was just me becoming accustomed to the profile or whether it was oxidation etc. I can’t say, but I did think it improved over time. Tasted from a 30ml sample. This is very good whisky (bordering on “excellent”) but beware that if you prefer your Highland Park with sherry-wood maturation you will probably think that this is too tangy and sharp. “Very Good” : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

Nose: Baked apple drizzled with manuka honey, rum and raisin milk chocolate, orange liqueur, vanilla, plum flan. It’s a nose no-one could hate. Palate: Soft, silky, elegant entry all on supple barley sugar, butterscotch and toffee. Sweet cream sherry, black cherries. The texture is silky, creamy and has good density. Finish: Medium/short. Subtle sweetness with malted grain and fruit compote the stars of the show. This is a great example of a straight-forward sherried whisky with a sweet profile. It’s insanely easy to drink and impossible to dislike. Sure, there are hundreds of single malts that have more intense character, greater finesse or a more mature style but this is a crowd-pleaser that an enthusiast can still embrace. Or maybe I should say the whisky embraces you because that’s what it’s like – sitting in your favourite chair on a cold day, wrapped in your favourite sweater. This tasting was from a bottle of Lasanta 12 that I bought in 2012 (bottle code L12 340). I bought three at the time and I’ve just opened the last one today but I have not tasted any Lasanta 12 that was bottled in the last 14 years, so bear in mind that contemporary expressions may be a little different. However, given the consistency of Glenmorangie whisky the notes above are probably still applicable. Dependable, affordable good value single malt. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)