Ballechin 10 Year

Normal smoky whisky. Not very complex.

The sherry bombastic Edradour 10 was great so eager to try this 50 ppm offering. This is not a standard peated scotch at all. There is little smoke and more pure earthy peat notes. Nose is bee hive, straw hat, unlit cigarette filters with a sweet floral like maltiness. Palate is rich honey with a bit of menthol, chestnuts, pinecone and some mild pipe tobacco. If anyone remembers those Pine Bros soft cough drops its kinda like the honey ones. There is a good malt presence and some light barrel tannins as well. Finishes slightly bitter with grassy raw peat and tree bark. The honeyed cooling malt slowly dries up to pipe ash. This is pretty interesting stuff without the usual BBQ or roaring campfire smoke. It does accumulate some saltiness as you continue to sip adding more character. Overall its very good and though I usually prefer a bit more smoke with my peat this is worth purchase. This distillery has it going on and Im assuming their other options are worth a look ......88/100

Top notch peated label from a top notch distillery. Even though this is the bottom shelf ballechin, it’s excellent. Highland peat and sugar. Thin mouthfeel and fast finish due to low abv but comparable in quality to ardbeg 10. I would get this again even though there are phenomenal cask strength finishes in the SFTC series. Great representation of Highland peat, unlike the mediocre and forgettable highland park 12.

The nose starts with a mix of heavy peat smoke, barnyard hay funk and butterscotch then chocolate covered raisins and toasted walnuts followed by rich fruits of orange creamsicle, figgy pudding and grilled peaches that transition to burning hay and light oak spice with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium to full mouthfeel starting very fruity with orchard fruit before a mixture of heavy peat smoke, barnyard hay funk and creamy butterscotch gelato then dark chocolate covered raisins and toasted walnuts followed by rich fruits of orange creamsicle, figgy pudding and grilled peaches that transition to burning hay and light oak spice with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with dark chocolate covered raisins, grape must, orange juice, burning hay, and light oak spice. For just 10 years old, this is a monster of a dram that manages to balance heavy peat smoke with fruity nutty notes coming from the sherry and bourbon casks, but there is a bit of a sour astringency likely due to its youth. This has a far creamier mouthfeel than you’d think from that 46% and I’d much rather drink this over an Ardbeg Wee Beastie, 10 or Kilchoman Machir Bay. Side by side with my Springbank 12 year batch 21, the youthful sour cracks are apparent in the Ballechin 10, but it puts up a hell of a fight against a Springbank that is older, higher proof and costs more. At around $75, I think this is a great buy for anyone that’s a fan of smoky peated drams and would likely be impressed.

Thx to Steven for the discovery