Kategoriarkiv: Ballantine’s

Ballantine’s, Glenburgie, Speyside

Ballantine’s Glenburgie 18 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is very fruity and vanilla sweet. Ripe red apples and sweet oranges share the main space with a piece of vanilla fudge. There’s a touch of honey but it’s not the main sweetness. It’s very mild and lacks some complexity expected from the high age statement. It’s simple and straight forward.

Mouth: It starts out very watery then slowly builds up as the seconds goes by. First to come through is pears, then spices, then oranges and grapefruits. After a few seconds the age starts to shine through with some complexity and some musty background notes. The oak is in the back and it comes through as grey old dry oak planks. It’s flat and really lacks a lot of power.

Finish: The vanilla fudge comes first and then it moves towards the fruitiness once again. It almost feels like a lightly carbonated soft drink. Honey and pears appear before the oranges completely takes over. When the oakiness comes back, it’s still grey wooden planks. There’s no astringency and no bitterness. This is very drinkable, but it’s not especially interesting.

Additional information
The Glenburgie 18 YO was released in 2019. It’s aged in traditional (refill) casks. This bottle is labeled with ”Series 001”.

Ballantine’s, Miltonduff, Speyside

Ballantine’s Miltonduff 15 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a sweet layer with honey, vanilla and black liquorice. Underneath a baked red apple and a maltiness gets mixed with yellow pears and a decent amount of oak. With time in the glass it just grows sweeter and it feels very dessert-like. It’s a nice enough, very straight forward nose without any shifts or surprises.

Mouth: It starts out with the maltiness up front with a sprinkle of black pepper on top. A somewhat unpleasant bitter oakiness spreads in the back. The fruitiness is subdued and doesn’t contribute much to the whole. There’s also an ethanol layer coming through which isn’t all that nice. It feels way younger than its age and it just doesn’t produce anything good at this point. After a few seconds a hint of vanilla and honey shows up but it’s too little too late.

Finish: A small increase in fruitiness, the same red apples and yellow pears, starts out the finish but it disappears as fast as it shows up. Afterwards the maltiness together with a thin honey and vanilla sweetness takes over. Everything except the oak disappears quite fast. The oakiness is still a bit bitter but not in an especially good way. In the late finish the oak actually becomes a bit nutty with a hazelnut quality to it which is nice. This is a so and so whisky which doesn’t live up to the age statement. The nose is simple but by far the best part of the experience.

Additional information
Miltonduff is one of the cornerstones of the Ballantine’s blends. This 15 YO was released in 2017 and is aged in american ex-bourbon barrels.

Ballantine’s, Unspecified

Ballantine’s Finest – Hard Fired

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Scotland unspecified
Type: Blended
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 1/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and sharp. At first there’s a mix of red berries and green apples sitting on top of a very sharp and unpleasant distillate. Vanilla and butterscotch notes are sitting in the background. The heavily charred oak is coming through quite clear and the charcoal is very much a central part of the whole. With time in the glass the sharpness sudsides and it becomes mild and mellow. This is a decent nose for a cheap blend.

Mouth: It starts out with a big hit of butterscotch and vanilla with a lining of mixed fruits and charcoal. The sweetness is a bit unpleasant like aspartam and it’s mixed with a sweet liquorice note. There’s a nice mellow peppery note within and a not so nice bitterness. It’s sharp and metallic in the back and there’s a wet cardboard note as well. The charcoal slowly increases in intensity for those who are patient.

Finish: The transition is a bit flat and the vanilla, butterscotch and aspartam sweetness sort of just continue on. After a second or two there’s a brighter fruitiness arriving as top notes. The sharp ethanol layer is still making up most of the background together with a slightly bitter oakiness. The charcoal disappear fast as well as the fruitiness and it doesn’t take long for it to fall apart. All that’s left is a flat oakiness and some aspartam sweetness. This is not the best of whiskies but there are some decent casks involved and it lives up to its ”hard fired” claim.

Additional information
This blend was released in 2016. It’s aged in second fill american ex-bourbon barrels. The special thing about this is that the barrels are emptied, then ”hard fired” (recharred) and then the whisky is put back in the barrel for a finishing period. Also, it’s supposedly not the same blend as the original.

Ballantine’s, Glenburgie, Speyside

Ballantine’s Glenburgie 15 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and sweet. At first there’s a fresh, fruity top note with yellow pears and green apples. Underneath there’s a sweet layer of honey and vanilla. The layers slowly shift and trade places with each other. The fruitiness settles in the back and a maltiness appear in the middle. It’s a pretty solid sweet core with all the flavours within. A hint of sweet liquorice also appears when this happens. This is a very approachable and mild nose with a straight forward flavour profile. There’s no sharp edges or surprises.

Mouth: It starts out quite flat and tasteless. It takes a while for the flavours to start coming through. First out is a thin layer of vanilla around the edges and a bitter note in the back. The center is a bit thin and the fruitiness is almost gone but there are malt and oak notes coming through. The sweetness found on the nose isn’t reflected in taste. There’s also a wet cardboard note coming through which isn’t all that pleasant.

Finish: The bitter notes rush forward and basically takes over everything. The fruitiness floats around within and it’s more of a ripe red apple fruitiness now. The maltiness is still there but it’s also thin. There’s vanilla, sweet honey and liquorice but they seem to disappear into the background. The oakiness comes through quite quickly which is a good thing. It’s a nice, dusty oakiness with a nutty character and a very thin tropical fruitiness within. This is a very easy sipper with too many corners cut. It’s thin and too mild at times, but produces an easy access experience for the mass market.

Additional information
The Glenburgie 15 YO was released in 2017 and it’s aged in a combination of refill and first fill american ex-bourbon casks.