Ballantine's Finest

Generic. Little aftertaste. A bit medicinal until I added a touch of water.

This is a very drinkable and affordable scotch. I like this better then Johnnie Walker Red. My new daily sipper.

Let’s say you have a couple of friends coming over. You’ll have a couple of drinks, get drunk and have fun. Some will drink cocktails, some will drink on the rocks and some will want something stronger. You need something that fits all and won’t be wasted. This is the one.

2nd tasting of this 2 years on - wanted to see where Ballantines ranks in 2022 and if anything's changed with the fresh, post-pandemic batches: Nose - still astringent and young as I'd expect for a £15 blend Palate: smooth milk chocolate, apples, salted caramel, gentle peat smoke Finish: gentle peat smoke This batch seems smoother, slightly less harsh on the smoke note and for a £15 bottle, has an exceptionally well balanced blend, with a much more interesting palate than it's price competitors and even plenty mid range single malts I've tasted. For this reason I'm going to bump up my previous rating of 3.75 to a 4. If your looking for a bargain blend that delivers the absolute max for it's young age, this is the one!

Very smooth and no smoke.