Balblair 1990

Overall rating
88.05/100
votes
161
Whiskybase ID
WB73989
Category
Single Malt
Distillery
Bottler
Distillery Bottling
Bottling serie
2nd Release
Vintage
1990
Bottled
2015
Casktype
Bourbon Casks & Sherry Butts
Strength
46.0 % Vol.
Size
50 ml 700 ml 750 ml
Barcode
5010509800693
Added on
04 nov 2015 9:10 pm by z-imaging
UncoloredNon-chillfiltered
Overall rating
88.05/100
votes
161

Average value

€ 102.13

Whisky reviews for Balblair 1990

24 users have left 26 reviews for this whisky. Average rating is 88.05 points.

Read the reviews
  1. Totoro scored this whisky 88 points Connoisseur

    Big fun. Pretty lively and zingy for its age - my guess is that a sizable portion of liquid matured in either ex-European oak or virgin oak has gone into this batch.
    As fas as affordable older Highlanders go, I'd prefer this to the - roughly similarly priced - AnCnoc 22 and 24.
    • Nose
      88 88
      Plum cake, polish, marzipan, exotically-flavored fruit gums, wine-soaked barrel staves. Quite a bit of acidity - probably due to the ex-bourbon components that went into the vatting, but there's also a sense of slightly sour wood influence (in a good way, though). Very fruity, with quince, mirabelle, apricot, and cherry. The fruit vies for dominance with the wood, without a clear winner in sight. With plenty of air, there's some hickory wood smoke, paprika, and smoky barbecue sauce. Though the sense of sherry seasoning and active wood is strong here, it's still a very rich and varied nose.
    • Taste
      89 89
      Does not need water. Super smooth and silky arrival, gets then slowly and steadily more peppery / spicy and intense. If you'd have to visualize the development on the palate, you'd surely draw an upward tending graph: it starts slowly and then just builds and builds and builds. Basically, you get multivitamin fruit juice in the beginning, then a dash of wood spice, leading up to a ginger-and-chili finale. At the death, there's some late chocolate and espresso. Impressive.
    • Finish
      86 86
      Longer than medium, but not extremely well-defined. Some lingering cocoa and indistinct red fruits, while the zingy spiciness slowly ebbs away. Water makes it fruitier and (duh:) softer without offering any real improvement. A lot of marzipan as well. There's too much active, peppery oak in here for my taste.

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