This blind tasting was clearly won by the Balblair. #1: Balblair 1999. Original bottling. Second release. Bottled 2015. 46.0% #2: Compass Box Menagerie. NAS Blended Malt. Bottled 2021. 46.0% #3: Arran 18 year old. Original bottling. Bottled 2016. 46.0% #4: Glenlivet 18 year old. Original bottling. Bottled 2019. 43.0% #5: Dalwhinnie Distiller’s Edition. Original bottling. Distilled 1997. Bottled 2013. 43.0% When Balblair was releasing their whiskies by vintages, they were probably the best distillery that no one talked about. Every release, except for the ’04, was exquisite and underpriced. I do not blame them at all for changing up their business strategy. Being the best distillery that no one talks about is not worth it for them. Rest assured, I will be buying their new bottlings, as soon as all their vintage releases are off the shelves of course. Balblair 1999, for a whisky that is 15-16 years old and priced ~$100 (I bought one bottle for $110 and a second for $130), has an unbelievable nose. A perfect nose. It’s become cliché for whisky reviewers once they try a unicorn whisky that’s over 25 years old, or over some ridiculous price point, to brag about how long they nosed the whisky before they actually tasted it; like how long they can last in bed. Nobody tries to do that for a reasonably priced whisky at a common age. Why not? This Balblair 1999 is clearly worth 1 hour of foreplay before I bust a n… I mean, take a sip. This whisky is an olfactory masterpiece. Perfect harmony between wood and spirit; bourbon and sherry influence. There’s some honey and forest-in-late-autumn; carrot cake and cake icing; milk chocolate and honey-nut Cheerios; fresh oak and almost-stale figs. I have an open Balblair 1983, which was 3 times the price of the 1999. Without blinding, I may enjoy the nose on the 1999 more. The 1999, however, does not have as great of a palate and finish. It is honest to the nose, but the younger, less developed malty notes are more dominant. Now, let’s talk about the losers, from the bottom up: Dalwhinnie Distiller’s Edition is a decent whisky; perfectly pleasant and friendly. It would be a “beginner whisky” if it weren’t $110-120 these days. I believe I bought this bottle a few years ago for $75, which is fair. Glenlivet 18 year is a decent-er whisky, pleasant-er and friendlier. You can never be sad with a Glenlivet 18 in hand. It has a luxuriousness to it that the Dalwhinnie lacked and is still priced appropriately. In fact, it is about the same price as the Dalwhinnie DE. The Arran 18 year that I have open is an older bottling style. I see the newer bottlings contain even darker liquid. I was very surprised in this blind line up that Arran 18 was the sherry bomb. I expected that Glenlivet 18 would have the most sherry influence. Is Arran trying to become known as a sherried brand? It is a very good sherried whisky, this 2016 Arran 18 year, but I believe I prefer their more ex-bourbony release, the now discontinued Arran 14 year old. I wish I had two bottles of Compass Box Menagerie. A disturbing trend around my local liquor stores is that Compass Box limited releases are being snatched up like allocated bourbons. I had to pay a premium of $170 to secure this bottle. It’s almost done, 3 months after cracking it, so it’s a good one; but I haven’t decided if it’s worth chasing. On the one hand, it reminds me of That Is Not A Luxury Whisky, if it actually weren’t a luxury whisky; on the other hand, it’s a lot of Mortlach with a splash of Laphroaig, and it makes me want to believe that the perfect blend would be a good Mortlach with a good Laphroaig. Back to the Balblair 1999: Score: ** (unimaginably good) How much does a bottle cost?: ~$100-130 if you can find it at retail. I do not believe the secondary market has increased the cost much. How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $260