The second dram we tasted on the lovely #balblair twitter tasting event last week was this 1990 peated cask which is an exclusive bottling by Master of Malt. This indeed is a sister cask to this one (bottled for the Balblair fan’s club called The Gathering place), which I’ve tasted and liked so much as to buy a bottle (It was UK only, so i had to be sneaky). It’s nice to compare the two, and i will do just that. This one is pricier than the other one which sold for 90 quid only a few months ago.
Balblair 1990 Islay Cask 1466 50.40%, £124.95
Nose: This is a very different dram than the 1997 , and that can bee deduced from a wee sniff : heavier and darker with BBQed pears, leather , some dried fruit in the form of crushed dates and , smoked apples. earthier and heavier, not as fruity, but quite complex.
Palate: Peaty! quite a lot of that actually, much more than on the nose with leather, smoke, dried fruit, cinnamon, chocolate, smoky butter.
Finish : Zingy smoked ginger, dried fruit, mushrooms
Superb stuff, a Balblair with a twist, as it retains some fruit, those are quite different more BBQed and smoked. When comparing it to the sister cask #1463, it’s really a whole lot peatier and smoky , with not as much candied fruits. I’d say those two peated casks were very different from one another, and i wonder what was inside in previous incarnation. All in all, a superb malt, I’d love to have too, i quite fancy it, a bit more than the bottle i bought in the past.
Score: 92/100.
official sample provided by Alembic Comms (via Master of Malt)
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