Balblair, one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, renewed its complete range in February 2007, with a new branding and bottle design. The age statements were replace by vintages (1975, 1979, 1986 (duty free), 1989 and 1997). Around 15% of the production is bottled as single malt.

This Balblair 1997 is a mixture of mostly ex-bourbon barrels with a few 2nd fill sherry butts.

Balblair 1997 (43%, OB 2008)

Nose: clean barley with soft vanilla. Really fresh and minty, with quite a lot of fruity notes (apple, orange, lemon, pineapple). Honey. Also spicy notes (cinnamon) from the oak. I quite like the nose. Mouth: sweet attack, again really fruity (pineapple, apricot, grapefruit). Vanilla. Subtle oak. Very light hints of peat. Evolving on spices and liquorice. Finish: a bit too simple and maybe a tad too bitter (ginger).

Well, I have to say this dram exceeded my expectations. Good introduction malt. Around € 40.

Score: 81/100