It is rare for a distillery from the heart of Speyside to announce its first whiskies. What's even more remarkable is that these whiskies aren't very young at all.
Ballindalloch Single Malt Whisky:
In the Speyside region, some of the most renowned distilleries are found, their whiskies highly popular worldwide. Ballindalloch Single Malt Whisky will carve out its own distinct place.
Ballindalloch Single Malt Whisky:
Ballindalloch Distillery is considered a (very) small distillery. Production capacity has been 100,000 liters of pure alcohol per year in recent years and average fermentation period of 130 hours ensures the stills are filled with very pure wort. The stills are slowly heated, and the boiling point is tightly controlled to ensure that the alcohol vapors are light and pure as they pass over the tops. All this is done to impart maximum flavor to the eventual whisky on a pure base.
The whisky then matures naturally in the finest casks in a warehouse on the estate. Given the production capacity of this small yet highly refined distillery, we will receive few or no other bottlings this year. So, take advantage now of these very first releases, specially crafted for the Benelux.
Tasting Note:
Curry and Lapsang Souchong blend with smoky firewood, aged leather, cherry jelly, and blackcurrant syrup. Spicy with black pepper, hints of a whisky warehouse, and dark chocolate on the palate. Finish lingers with spices, currants, and raisins, all beautifully balanced. Delightful.
Whisky Notes (81)
Ballindalloch distillery is located at the heart of the Ballindalloch Estate, owned by the Macpherson-Grant family. Part of the estate was leased to Cragganmore distillery in 1869 but the family sold their stake in the distillery to DCL in 1965.
I have fond memories of a dinner at the beautiful Ballindalloch castle, when I stayed at Glenrothes distillery for a week. Lady Clare wrote a couple of cooking books on traditional Scottish cuisine. Her husband, 23rd generation of the family, started the new distillery in 2011, growing barley on the estate itself, with the first distillate flowing in Sptember 2014.
Ballindalloch is a very artisan distillery with a lot of manual operations. They took quite some time before releasing the first expressions. The inaugural release from 2023 was already 8 years old. Today I’m having a single sherry cask release exclusive to the Benelux countries. Cask 108 is part of a trio of Benelux exclusives.
Nose: a bit funny at first, with a rubbery hint in the background (highlighted with water), but not too bad. Settles down on nice red fruit candy (raspberry) with apricots, red plums and baked apples. Forest fruit jam. Also worn leather, cinnamon pastry and a resinous / polished side. It suffers a little from the high alcohol strength, but it’s really inviting nonetheless.
Mouth: a slightly synthetic fruitiness (raspberry and plum), quickly overtaken by firm herbal notes. Juniper, pine needles, white pepper and drops of herbal bitters. A lot of black pepper and bitter clove. Walnuts and bitter citrus peels. Still a rubbery hint as well. Started in a nice way but it gets quite harsh over time. Water helps, to a certain extent.
Finish: quite long, but mostly finishing on bitterness, leather and clove, with a dash of cold coffee.
The nose promised good things, but on the palate it goes downhill. A quirky cask perhaps, and the high ABV doesn’t help to make it shine.
