Ballantine's - Tweet Tasting - Review

On Wednesday 19th November 2014 I took part in another fantastic Tweet Tasting, hosted of course by Steve Rush of "TheWhiskyWire.com", in which all involved were presented with a range of the much loved Ballantine's blended whisky.  

The five expressions on show this evening were the "Finest", 12yo, 17yo, 21yo and their 30yo.  A serious range for a serious tasting in which we were also joined, online, by Ballantine's own master blender Sandy Hyslop.

As many of you know Ballantine's is a huge name in the whisky market.  It has the honour of being the second biggest selling scotch in the world and, considering they are second only to the behemoth that is Johnnie Walker, that is a pretty impressive position to hold.  

The brand is also steeped in history, having been established in 1827, and has a wealth of stock to choose from when making it's blends.  Being owned by Pernod Ricard they can call upon close to 50 different whiskies to compile their whiskies with the signature malts being Miltonduff and Glenburgie.

I was particularly thrilled to be taking part in this tasting as, apart from quickly reviewing the "Finest" last year, I have had no other experience with this brand and on that note I shall move onto the whiskies themselves.


Ballantine's "Finest" - Bottled at 40% ABV this is the oldest recipe in their range having been first created way back in 1910.  There's more than 40 malts and grains in this blend which have been selected from 4 different Scottish regions.

Nose - Crisp, barley, lemon shortbread biscuit, oak resin and sugary orange syrup.  A light grassy note along with slight perfume.  Just the faintest smoke hides in the background then we come back to lemon sherbet and salted butter popcorn.

Palate - Fresh, spicy arrival that moves into zingy citrus, lemon, orange and lime juice.  Bags of toffee and caramel show a serious sweet side to this one and then you get red apple and clove rock sweets which is slightly "new makey".  The smoke doesn't want to show itself on this palate.

Finish - Slightly short but big on sweet red apples.

Overall - A very decent whisky that is perfect as an entry level blend and for the normal price you can pick it up for, especially coming into the festive period, a serious must for when friends call round.

Ballantine's 12 Year Old - Bottled at 40% ABV this holds the distinction of being the favourite of Sandy Hyslop who stated, on the night, that it ticked all the boxes due to it's smooth, creamy, toffee, vanilla.  The maturation of this is a combination of American and European oak and the core malts involved are, as mentioned earlier, Glenburgie and Miltonduff.

Nose - Tropical. Banana, orange, lemon and candied pineapple.  Some red fruits present here and back to the tropical with a feel of tropical mix dried fruit.  With time this becomes more sherried with dried fruit, Christmas cake and mixed spice.  Banana cheesecake and a light, gentle char.  Not obviously smoke and certainly not peat just char.

Palate - Beautiful warm spice and stewed fruits with orange being dominant.  This has a lot more depth then the "Finest".  Blackcurrant / strawberry jam, clove and warm red apple crumble.  Very smooth.

Finish - Slightly short with clove, menthol and deep warm fruit.

Overall - This is an obvious step up from the "Finest" yet shouldn't cost too much more, depending on where you shop, and in that respect this is fantastic value for money.  I'll be buying a bottle this Christmas.

Ballantine's 17 Year Old - Bottled at 40% ABV this is marketed on Ballantine's website as having an extra depth of flavour, due to the longer maturation, which is characterised by a subtle sensation of smokiness that differentiates it from the 12 year old.

Nose - Deep, earthy fruits that are almost mineral in nature.  Light coffee, Terry's dark chocolate orange and a whisp of smoke which doesn't appear to be any more than was present on the "FInest".  More grassy notes with brown sugar syrup.  Feels a lot like the "Finest's" big brother.

Palate - Very smooth but a tad flat.  Brown sugar, malted bread, light clove spice, deep orange and a good initial juiciness.  The flavour builds well enough but fades rapidly to the end with no distinguishable finish.  I tried this several times to confirm my thoughts and each time the experience was the same.

Finish - Short and disappointing.

Overall - The promise of a great whisky, that was shown on the nose, did not deliver in the taste.  A bit of a let down to say the least.

Ballantine's 21 Year Old - Bottled at 40% ABV, we moved into the big hitters.  Hoping to see some great cask influence we were informed that this blend contains a higher proportion of European cask matured whisky than the rest of the range.

Nose - Rich and enticing.  Banana, grapefruit juice, orange and lemon oils.  Brown sugar, wood polish with rum and raisin ice cream.  Rich vanilla cream, perfume and an even more gentle whiff of smoke.  Huge deep leather and malt.

Palate - Sweet, sweet arrival with a good kick of clove and chilli spice.  Rich malt, dark red fruits and more red apple.  As hoped, there is a good sense of oak influence going on here.  In time you get a dustiness of old books and leather and right at the very end you get a little taste of smoke, first time it has shown itself in the palate.

Finish - Very good with dusty spice and right at the end you get a last taste of melted butter.

Overall - A great whisky and a great balance of age and spirit but you get the sense, as with the previous expressions, that this could do with a % or two more.

Ballantine's 30 Year Old - Now for the grand finale.  Bottled at 43% ABV, praise for the extra %, this is described as being the ultimate balance between distillery character and cask influence.  We are also informed that some of the whiskies involved are incredibly rare with the distilleries no longer in existence, but we get let in on the secret that these include Dumbarton and Dalmunach.

Nose - Old, dirty, damp smoke which I mean in the nicest possible way.  Thick oily feel to this one.  Old worn leather with lovely vanilla.  Tropical notes in here but the age dominates fantastically.  Ripe, mashed banana and more polished wood.  Dark melted chocolate and with time the, surprisingly fresh, fruit comes along with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Palate - Bitter / sour arrival.  Massive amount of damp, dusty wood that dries the mouth nicely.  Fruit is intense with a great feel of concentrated blackcurrant juice.  The rich malty notes interplay well with gentle spice.

Finish - Great length and moreish with blackcurrant, spice and an end of orange zing.

Overall - The star of the show which obviously comes at a price.  Great old flavours and sense of cask influence with intense fruit.  

Well that has certainly increased my knowledge of Ballantine's.  An excellent blend that shows great consistency of flavour through the range.  Their young blends are fantastic for the price with the serious oldies being of great character.  As for the 17 year old?  I'm not sure what happened there but maybe I'll try it again in the future and see if I'm impressed any more.

Once again a huge thanks to Steve Rush at TheWhiskyWire.com, where anyone can apply to join in the fun of the tweet tastings, and also a big thank you to Sandy Hyslop of Ballantine's for passing on his knowledge on the night and giving us an extra insight into the whisky itself.

Until next time,

Sláinte

SI

The Whisky Wire - http://www.thewhiskywire.com

The Whisky Wire Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheWhiskyWire

The Girvan Patent Still - Tweet Tasting - Review

Towards the end of August I was lucky enough to take part in another excellent tweet tasting which was, as usual, hosted by the wonderful Steve Rush from TheWhiskyWire.com.  

The whisky on show on this particular evening was that from Girvan Grain Distillery which is situated in South Ayrshire and is a distillery which I had no previous experience of.

Set up in 1963, in an unused munitions factory, Girvan Distillery was established by William Grant and Sons as a staple source of grain whisky for blending purposes.  It boasts a highly impressive annual production capacity of 15 million litres and also is the location for a new single malt distillery called Aisla Bay.  This, however, is not Girvan's first foray into the world of single malt as back in the 60's they expanded the distillery to produce a single malt named Ladyburn but this did not last long and eventually died off around 10 years later.

As you may or may not know, grain whisky is usually produced through the use of a "Coffey" still, also known as a continuous column still, and as a result the spirit that comes off these stills can be lighter, higher in ABV and usually less flavoursome to the single malt spirit that would be produced in a pot still.

This allows the grain whisky to become very useful in the blending process by smoothing out harsher single malts whilst allowing the blenders to achieve a good consistency in nailing down the flavour profile their brand has established.

On the other hand though, as this was my first time seriously sampling grain whisky, I was wondering how these would stand up against my favourite single malts.  Surely with a lighter, less flavoursome spirit, there'd need to be some seriously impressive maturation going on?

The first thing I have to say is that "The Girvan Patent Still", to give them their proper name, have got their marketing and presentation of product down to a fine art.  As you can see the samples arrived in elegant glass vials which themselves were contained within a fantastic presentation case.  This allowed one other taster to comment on how this almost felt scientific.  Certainly got my excitement levels up.

As for the samples, there were four on show.  New make, No.4 Apps, 25 year old and 30 year old.  All were bottled at 42% ABV, including the new make which was done to allow better comparison, and all were natural colour.  





New Make Spirit - Normally this would come off the still at 94% ABV and, as pointed out on the accompanying taste card, this obviously can not be called whisky until matured in oak for at least three years.  The card also suggests a fresh, fruity and vibrant spirit that is a perfect starting point to show how the flavours would develop over time.

Nose - At a lighter strength the spirit is deliciously fruity, prune juice, raisin, concentrated lemon juice, white wine vinegar and a sugary / sherbety feel to it which comes across as fruit pastilles.

Palate - Sweet and sour arrival with warm spice.  A touch watery and vodka-esque.  Lemon, apple and slightly herbal.

Finish - Great green fruit aftertaste with some more herbal notes (maybe basil strangely enough)

Whilst a great experience to try, and while I understand the reason behind bottling it at 42%, I felt that this would have benefited from being closer to 50%.  The watery, vodka-esque feel was a touch bland but there were some distinct delicious flavours in there.

No.4 Apps - In 1992 GIrvan installed a pioneering new still which they named "No.4 Apps", with "Apps" being a term for apparatus.  This new still, operated under a vacuum, permitting distillation at low temperatures.  This, according to the card, produces a pure, fruity and intense spirit.

Nose - Soft, creamy, green fruit, vanilla biscuits, perfumed and aromatic with more cereal notes.  When nosing this you get a sense that the spirit is working well with the effects of maturation.  After time the raisin returns along with a strange feel of a milk ice lolly.  Reminds me a lot of the Irish grain whiskey Greenore.

Palate - Fantastic warm fruit arrival with great strength.  Bags of oak spice.  Sweet, toffee, green apples and the lemon is now zingy and sharp.  Gorgeous spice throughout and towards the end some pepper and chilli which is not too harsh.

Finish - To be honest, slightly short, warm and drying with some more green fruit.

This for me was an excellent example of grain whisky.  Good spirit being married well with good casks and the balance wasn't too bad either.  My only complaint, and this does run throughout, is that the finish could be longer and I think this could also benefit from being bottled at a slightly higher strength.

25 Year Old - Priced around the £250 mark, this whisky has been matured in american oak and should show "notes of toffee, vanilla and caramelised fruits."

Nose - This is distinctly tropical, banana, raisin, stewed orange, red apple, light pepper with more toffee and very perfumed.  Huge sherry feel and great wood effect going on here.  Gets better and better becoming fudgy and unctuous which was perfectly described, by another taster, as sticky pudding.  After 10 minutes it's age starts to show through with a typical dustiness.

Palate - Spicy toffee apple, citrus lemon and orange, caramel, pepper, vanilla cream, ginger and more sweet, sugary sticky pudding.

Finish - Medium in length with after notes of the palate but again the finale just feels, well, a little flat.

The standout dram of the evening.  I don't know if it's worth £250 but it certainly won the battle of the four grain samples.

30 Year Old - Distilled in 1984, this dram is unique for having maize included in the mashbill.  It is lighter in colour than the 25 year old and as pointed out age is not necessarily a guarantee of darkness of colour.  A final read of the cards would highlight "notes of vanilla, zesty fruit and woody spiced finish".

Nose - Still in the tropics, banana, pineapple, menthol, mint and vanilla toffee.  Cereal and oats.  The raisin and prune is still hiding in there but the citrus has eased off compared to the 25 year old.  More light pepper and again no initial sense of age but this comes with time along with another sherried feel.

Palate - Raisins, allspice, clove, dark dried fruit and cinnamon.  Heat is less intense and eases for amazing juiciness.

Finish - Medium, warm and juicy.

Whilst being highly accomplished this just did not feel as good as the 25 year old and to nab this old liquid will set you back about £360.  The underlying strength issue is still here, as with all, but like I said, it is highly accomplished and worth trying.

All in all this was one amazing experience.  A great journey through the life of single grain whisky and a journey that can regularly be experienced through the likes of the tastings hosted by TheWhiskyWire.com.  I can not recommend enough to get yourselves out there and try any tastings you can, however they may be found.  

As for these drams I would have to go out there and say that while the 25 year old was my favourite I'd opt for the "No.4 Apps".  I put this down purely to value for money and the fine balance that this whisky displays.

To nearly finish off I'll take a short moment to highlight that I shall be back again, very soon, with my views on the Oban 14 year old, which I had the huge enjoyment to sample whilst recently in Paris and to finally finish off I'll give a huge thanks to Girvan Grain and Steve @ TheWhiskyWire.com for yet another fine tasting.

Until next time,

Sláinte

SI