Balblair 15 - Whisky Review

Time for another dram!

A Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, part of Balblair's Core Range.

A bit about

Matured in ex-bourbon oak casks and finished in first-fill Spanish oak butts (for 15 years in total), the Balblair 15 has 46% ABV, is non-chill-filtered, and has a natural colour.

When it comes to awards, so far, it has won silver in 2019 at the International Spirits Challenge and the International Wine & Spirit Competition and silver in 2022 at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Balblair Distillery was founded in 1790. Their core range consists of 12-, 15-, 18-, 21-, and 25-year-old whiskies.

Time to try it

Nose: Quite a peculiar smell to start with, with ripe berries, some walnut and poundcake

Palate: Velvety, with dark chocolate, prunes, and very gentle honey sweetness

Finish: Medium, with the dark chocolate notes continuing, with some orange slice, oak spice and quite a lot of bitter notes

Pros and Cons

I'm not the biggest fan of the finish on this one. The nose and palate are quite pleasant, but it ends with more bitter tones than expected or desired (for me, at least).

I would have loved a bit more of the fruitiness of the palate and the nose to continue in the finish, but overall it's not an unpleasant dram.

Will this dram absolutely change the way you see whisky? Probably not. But it's a pretty enjoyable one, great neat or with a couple of drops of water.

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In Conclusion

Priced at around £75 for a 70cl bottle on most UK websites, the Balblair 15 is quite a pleasant dram to sip. If you're looking for something heavily peated or with a lot of sweet, flavourful sherry-cask influence, then this is certainly not what you're looking for, but if you're looking for an intriguing dram to sample, then you're in luck.

If you want to give this whisky a try, you can find it by clicking/tapping here.

As always, please drink responsibly.

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I hope life is treating you well.

Take care