Balblair SMWS Goose Juice 11 Year Old

Yet another gratefully received sample courtesy of @wierdo, many thanks! I know little about this bottle other than it hails from the Balblair distillery. Let's dive in ...

Review is with a half tsp to a 25ml pour.

Nose - overtly creamy, like a boozy, passion fruit/gooseberry syllabub. Slightly grassy with notes of dry white wine, some 'off in the distance' sweet spices and, with time, a little light toffee and a slight musty, waxy note emerges.

Taste - very fruity with tart apples, more gooseberry and a little orange. A gristy, grainy note is there with more of the white wine.

Finish - soft tannins, jasmine tea and some of the tart fruit lingers. Short to medium (at a push) length.

I didnt add neat notes but the nose was definitely better. Water brings out more of those gristy notes that I'm not 100% sure about here.

So, a really impressive nose, neat (I love that syllabub thing), and a very unusual whisky, especially on the palate. I felt it needed water to get into it but the longer it sat after dilution, the less I seemed to enjoy it. Still, always nice to try Balblair but I've never tasted a whisky quite like this. Tough one to mark as the quality is there and it certainly stands out but some of the notes, especially with water, arent my exact cup of tea. So, here goes ...