Balmenach 1979 Berry Brothers & Rudd

Balmenach 28 Year Old 1983 A.D. Rattray

I will end this session of Balmenach with a 28 Year Old bottled by A.D. Rattray in 2012. I am comparing it to a sister cask released by Bladnoch Forum. Both casks were single bourbon hogsheads of Balmenach 1983. Frangipane pie on the nose, which also reveals white and yellow fruit. Cardemom and cinnamon from the spice rack. Sweet and malty. Very...

Score 86/100

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...

Score 81/100

Balmenach 1975

Nose: special. A sherry profile but quite different from anything I’ve tasted before. Earthy, with notes of hay and a fern forest. Nuts. Something of soy sauce. Apples. Coffee. Some heather. Rather strange but interesting notes of pine needles! Very complex really. Mouth: oily mouth-feel. Big notes of dried fruits (figs, raisins), candied orange...

Score 90/100

Balmenach 10, Duncan Taylor's NC2 Range

Nose: Initially had the character of a chlorine cleaning agent, which I've never experienced in a whisky. Strange. After brief sitting this changes to pear, with perhaps soft strawberry. Taste: Oily in character, and spicy hot, with the sharp burn of red peppers. Finish: Continuing spiciness with some harsh oaky tannins. If I had to try this...

Score 55/100