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

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Bargain Blends (Ideal for Xmas)

As I started this week I began, as mentioned previously, with the best of intentions to push on with my whisky exploration.  That suffered a slight setback when I woke to discover a minor flood in our kitchen this morning….thankfully my whisky was unharmed.

As the last area of the kitchen was drying off I glanced up to my ever growing collection and took in the various styles and quality on display.  To the bottom end of this scale I noticed my two budget blends - Grant's Family Reserve and Ballantine's Finest.  These were both picked up in a local supermarket recently for £25.  Extremely reasonable in today's whisky prices.

As we move into the season of goodwill, we should all get ourselves down to our local supermarkets as there are some pretty serious bargains to be had.  Each week the bosses at these stores will drive their prices down in an attempt to persuade all of us to come their way and spend our pennies.

Now, some of you just getting started on your own whisky journey may think that the reason these bottles are so cheap is that they are of poor quality and only exist to be mixed in large amounts with Coke or Lemonade but the reality is that there are some great whiskies out there as the two reviews below will hopefully show.


Ballantine's Finest Scotch Whisky - 40%

Nose - Light and fresh spirit.  Unripe banana, candied lemon and a hint of bubblegum!!! Light grains make an appearance along with some fresh cut wet grass.  There is a faint whiff of smoke but not peat.  This nose has a feel of a Highland whisky with no obvious sherry present.

Palate - Light and inoffensive and eventually some clove spice and sweet malts take over.  With a touch, and a mean a touch, of water the sweetness and spice arrives much quicker accompanied by the fruits picked up on the nose.

Finish - Light, clean and warming spice settles and fades into more fruit with emphasis on peach and red apple.

Overall - This was bought for £15 and to be fair it feels that this was a nice price to pay. It's a nice, decent blend with lovely light fruits and spice.  It is perfectly drinkable and grand as far as value for money goes.


Grant's Family Reserve - 40%

Nose - Initial hit of fresh peat smoke which fades over time.  Stewed blood orange, soft grains and light honey.  Time in the glass allows sherry malt flavours to come through in the form of dried fruits, ginger spice and Christmas cake.  Throughout the nose there is an underlying nail varnish remover / ladies perfume note but it's nothing more than a slight background effect and is in no way unpleasant.  With water some gentle pear and green apple decide to show their faces.

Palate - The very initial arrival is that of light alcohol spirit, which would account for the underlying varnish note, but this fades quickly in the mouth to reveal sweet malt and grain along with juicy red fruits (strawberries, red currants, etc etc).

Finish - The finish is shortish but is very smooth, warming and ends with vibrant peach and apricot.

Overall - This was bought for £10 and in my opinion is an absolute belter for that price.  Considering some supermarket, own brand, "white label" spirits retail for roughly the same price, this is a whisky that can not be ignored, when on offer.  This really is a great example of what can be bought if we take a bit of time and examine closely what's in our local stores.

If I had to pick a winner it would definitely have to be the Grant's and to be honest, whilst the price is a big factor, I still would have this as the victor if the prices were the same.

To conclude I would simply highlight that it is not only the blends that can be found at scarily good prices.  At this time of year some of our most favourite single malts can be found at prices we would never see anywhere else.

Get out there, get looking and enjoy.

Until next time,

Slainte.

SI