Balblair 15 Year

Very much not the classic scotch profile but solidly enjoyable. This is dry with a slight nuttiness on the finish. Opens up and sweetens slightly with a couple drops of water

This is a great dram. Abv is 46% non chilled filtered non colored Color is honey. The nose is faint. Has a heavy oily mouth feel. Lots of honey orchard fruit up front. Finish is long & spicy. Zero alcohol burn. I’m really struggling with the rating on this. No way is this a 78. This is an excellent scotch.

Schöner, sehr ausgewogener Malt mit Noten von hellen Früchten und Leder. Im Abgang lang mit Vanille, Schokolade und Nelken.

Nose: Apricot, tropical fruit salad, leather, coffee, malt extract, chocolate. Over time the nose develops dried fruit, baked banana and a note of tobacco. When watered, the leather and tobacco aromas are intensified and both orange and charred oak become apparent. Water harmonizes the nose but a drop too much will render it homogeneous and flat, so take care. Palate: A particularly spicy arrival with fresh ginger, hot cinnamon, anise and black pepper. Honey, oak, dark chocolate, caramel and mocha appear in the development but any more delicate flavours that may be present are masked by the strong tannins. Water improves the palate by modulating the spiky spices while bringing out red fruits and uncovering the spirit’s complexity. Finish: Medium/long. The big spice presence from the palate lingers into the aftertaste where it gives way finally to bittersweet malt. The finish is shorter if the whisky is watered but it makes the entire palate much friendlier. Water also evolves very pleasant milk and dark chocolate notes in the aftertaste. An interesting whisky but overly spicy for my palate. There is a lot of oak influence (too much in my opinion) and it makes the palate almost buzz with intensity. This is a boorish whisky that shouts at you for attention. The nose is very good either neat or diluted but for me the palate is flawed without dilution. Although this causes the nose to lose definition it allows more subtle flavours to surface, and this improves the overall experience. I was not very impressed when I initially tried it neat, but with a good dash of water I began to warm to it. This is the first time I’ve tasted Balblair since they ceased releasing vintage expressions and moved to a fixed core range of age-statement single malts. At the asking price there is no way I’d be buying this one. The official tasting notes and rating here on Distiller are pretty much on the mark if the whisky is only tasted neat, but I think it's worth a couple of percentage points extra once properly diluted. Tasted from a 30ml sample. “Above Average” : 80/100 (3 stars)

Smokey, very dry