Believe this is my first Balmenach ... why are there so few bottlings? Bottled for hidden spirits from Italy, I have to say very clearly here that I had never tried any - really no hidden spirits that I found grotty. Andrea Ferrari's barrel selection is excellent to say the least.
Nose: No whisky that hits you in the face with your fist. Dignified, mild, sweet, Fior di latte ice cream in the sunset in the Tuscan hills. Pineapple, butter cream cake, white grapes. Buttery-sweet in the mouth too. Biscuit cake. Light caramel and shortbread. In the finish, the sweetness slowly gives way to a woody spice. Very pleasant pepper note, no unpleasant sharpness but this note of fresh, spicy pepper.
No, it's not a complexity monster. It is simple but tasty. But why does it always have to be complicated? The world is crazy enough anyway. A whisky for mild summer evenings. Or warm spring days like today. Exactly what I need right now. 88 points.

Very fragrant, good and sweet fruit (peach and banana), vanilla, almond milk, icing sugar and sponge cake (paradise cake), a very thin thread of mineral peat, imperceptible alcohol despite the 51 degrees. With two drops of water the alcohol feels a little more, the fruity notes diminish and the creamy ones are accentuated, the peat disappears. On the palate of medium and creamy body, still sweet and good fruit, paradise cake, a pinch of vanilla in the background, no peat here but a light spicy note. With water the alcohol feels a little more and the flavor becomes slightly acidic. Medium finish, sweet and delicate, but in conclusion I find a strange and unpleasant note of cork that accompanies me long after the tasting.
Good whisky, definitely to drink smooth, very fragrant and persuasive, soft and delicate despite the 51 degrees. I didn't like the final cork flavor that remained in my mouth at all, I hope it depended on what I had eaten before (I had just finished dinner).
I would have given a higher score (85-86) but the final cork note negatively affected the final judgment).