Downgraded my score from a 90 to a 88. This is my second bottle, and although very good, not quite the way I remembered it the first time around. Not as much fruit and sherry in the second bottle as the first. It's the same release and both bottles were purchased at the same time, so their shouldn't be any difference between the two, other than my palate changing slightly and being more discerning now than before.

Plum Juice

Different sources state that there has been a release of Balblair 1990 in 1998, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The last three were all called ‘Second Release’. How can this be? While somebody writes down the explanation, I will try the bottling from 2014.

The sherry has clearly put its stamp on this nose. Wonderfully sweet notes of sultanas, banana, oranges, honey, vanilla, dried apricots and mango that goes hand in hand with the spices of which I remember mostly cinnamon and nutmeg. Some brown sugar, rose water and toasted oak. I’ll gladly forgive the hint of molding wood and moist cellar.

It is wonderfully sweet and creamy on the palate. Immediately I get some dried fruits in combination with Granny Smith apples and grapefruit, soaked in lime and plum juice. Good body! Hint of leather and mocha with a salty edge. Surprising and very good.

The finish is medium long to long with the emphasis on pepper, ginger and cinnamon. At the death, a smidgen of sulpher dares to rear its ugly head.

The nose was a lot sweeter than the palate, but is is still a gem. Not very delicate, but powerful and complex. Around 120 EUR nowadays.

Nose: fruity sweetness, tobacco, old wood - a bit musty, delicately spicy, some wax, oranges, toasted cereal (Kellogg's smacks from childhood), after the first sip strong elegant oak notes, a fresh fruity acidity Taste: sweet, spicy, full-bodied, syrupy, hazelnut nougat, prunes, raisins, dates, sawdust - rather grindy, slightly dry, with the second sip - full-bodied, slightly sharp on the tongue like grapefruit skin, various citrus notes, fruity acidity, balsam-like texture , hidden sherry tones, serve more as a backdrop for the bourbon flavors
Conclusion: the drop has a high quality, is quite peculiar in its wood notes, I can not quite understand the hype so yummy but nothing so special