Balblair 1999
Fruit cup, crême caramel and polish
1 185
Review by @cricklewood

- Nose20
- Taste23
- Finish22
- Balance20
- Overall85
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My first Balblair, as it is not a distillery that gets much mention in my hood.
I got a chance to try this at an SAQ (Quebec's state run liquor stores) in store tasting last month, I was by myself so took the time to take notes
Nose: Wet driftwood, cornmeal/porridge, Sultanas, vaguely rum like. Toasted almonds, loads of ripe fruit, soaked sponge-cake, then you get furniture polish/paste.
Palate: Juicy as hell (that's really what I wrote), makes you salivate (it has a great texture btw, pretty viscous), melted brown sugar, floral, ripe apple peel, banana's. Very creamy like pudding or creme caramel, citrus zest but there is also a background terpene like note that kicks in maybe from the wood?
Long finish, fruit cup but with a bitterness and body. I think this is a blend of both sherry and bourbon casks. It does exhibit a bit of the former's influence in the nose but the palate is a lot about the fruits and creaminess with that green/terpene thing that prevents it getting to sweet.
An interesting bottling, not so much my favorite style but offers something fairly unique, that opening juicy salvo is worth trying. I cannot attest if this is keeping in the company's taste profile though.
At a 146$ in Québec it is high for a 15 yr old. Would like to try some other vintages.
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Nice review. I have a mini of this distillery, 1989 vintage, but haven't tried it yet. It's on the list...