Balblair 2006/2020 14 year (cask #77 for LMDW)

Nose (neat): Big leathery rancio from the obviously active and rich sherry cask. Some positive sulphur aromas (as opposed to intrusive and pungent), like a whiff of burnt match-heads or the smell of heavily sulphured dried apricots. Also, an aroma of oxidised dried fruits (figs, dates, raisins, etc that have turned brown). Walnut bread and a complex but subtle waft of something smoky, but it’s not peat. It’s more like the smell of a discharged firearm (so there's that pleasant sulphur note again). The nose continues to develop over time in the glass and is seemingly endless. Nose (with water): Adding a teaspoon to 30ml did no harm at all, merely developing further complexity and softness. It took a fraction of the bite off the alcohol and, after a rest to recompose, allowed subtle fragrances of pipe tobacco, dusky rose, vanilla and grass clippings to emerge. There was some sprightly fresh apricot juice as well. 92/100 Palate (neat): Semi-sweet old dried fruits, malt extract, blackstrap molasses and oxidised sherry to start with. This initial profile gains astringency as it moves into the development and the palate becomes more and more drying over time as old slightly sour walnuts, bitter orange and dark unsweetened chocolate come through. The palate teeters towards being overly dry but the strong presence of sherry keeps things just sweet enough for balance. The texture is full but not too dense and has a creamy quality. 89/100 Palate (with water): Very similar to the neat palate but with less extremes and more interplay between the flavours. Some minty notes and a touch of salmiak. The progression from semi-sweet to dry and back to sweet is still there, but it’s a more relaxed and mature experience. The longer you let this sit and rest once watered the more sweetness and balance it gains, and over time a definite sensation of quite sweet, almost vanilla-ish oak is apparent. 92/100 Finish: Long. The palate itself has considerable persistence but after the lovely exploration between sweet and dry finally passes there is a relatively fast fade into the finish. However, many minutes after this whisky seems to have ended you find you still have an excellent aftertaste of malt, sherry and dried fruits and a final lingering touch of menthol. This progression is unchanged in character with dilution – it just feels like the volume has been turned down a notch and the overall profile is a hint sweeter. 95/100 This is a beautiful Balblair, one of the best I've tasted, from back when the distillery still released proper vintage whiskies instead of age statements. Oloroso cask #77 was filled in 2006 and discharged as a single-cask special release for La Maison du Whisky in 2020, producing just 573 bottles. The nose has far more depth than most other teenage whiskies. I could easily believe this was 20 years old or more – it’s like a 25 or 30 year old Glenfarclas in many ways but without the floral notes. The presence of the cask is immediate and profound but it never swamps the distillate. There is a partnership between distillery character and cask management going on here and it works magic. The whisky is masterfully sherried with the oloroso character singing clear and strong, and at times it veers towards a drier style of sherry (most likely tannin extraction from the cask showing through). In my book this is precisely how a fine sherried whisky should present. It's not a sherry-bomb, it's your sherry mistress. I bought this a couple of years ago but the price I’ve listed below is the current secondary average and almost twice as much. Even at this price it's a steal and I'd highly recommend it if you can obtain it. “Estimable” : 92/100 (5 stars)