Balmenach 8 Year Old 2004 Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice

Balmenach is one of those noble unknown distilleries for the simple fact that the produce almost exclusively for the blenders. You can hardly find it as a single malt. So we have to look at the independent bottlers. Let us start with this G&M Connoisseurs Choice, which means it is bottled at 46% ABV.

The nose is fairly sweet, but with a weird edge that reminds me of silver polish or old iron in the rain. A tad dusty. Yellow fruit, mostly citrus, but also pineapple. Mildly spicy. Think ginger, liquorice and loads of vanilla. Nice, but far from great.

Oily arrival and immediately very sweet on the palate. A bit more spicy than on the nose and now it is all about pineapple, both fresh and dried. Then the citrus fruit kicks in, leaning towards lime. Very accessible.

The finish is spicy with a little pepper, but unfortunately does not last very long.

Card player’s whisky, nothing more, nothing less. Nice nose, though. Around 40 EUR.

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