Balmenach 1973 Connoisseurs Choice

Balmenach 27 Year Old 1983 Bladnoch Forum

Let us put another couple of casks of Balmenach head-to-head. They are sister casks after all. I will start with this Bladnoch Forum bottling, a Balmenach 1983, cask 2411. The sparring partner is cask 2413, bottled by A.D. Rattray. Honeysweet and creamy nose on all sorts of yellow fruit. Mirabelle, pineapple, peach. Some juicy apples too....

Score 86/100

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 one...

Score 55/100

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 14 Year Old 2001 for Save Lars Whisky

After the peated Bruichladdich and the bourbon-matured Auchentoshan, we wanted something special for the third and final bottling of the Save Lars Whisky. After more than a year of looking for the right cask, we finally found it in this outstanding Balmenach, a fruity Speyside whisky which matured for 14 years on a refill sherry cask. Fairly...

Score 84/100