Scotch Whisky Review #141: Compass Box Myths & Legends I (Balblair)

Distillery: Balblair

Region: Highland

Price: Samples courtesy of /u/TheAgaveFairy

Cask Type: 57.7% First Fill Bourbon Cask, 42.3% Recharred American Oak Casks

ABV: 46%

Age: NAS

Color: 0.5, Yellow Gold. Non-Chill Filtered and No Color Added

This is the twentieth in my Countdown to Christmas series where I’ll be posting a review a day until Christmas. You can find the entire series here.

Nose: On the light side of things. It’s very floral along with a nice bit of grapefruit.

Palate: From the get go, there is a toasted barley note that is similar to Korean barley tea (보리차). It’s slightly savory but also has bits of sweetness from the malt barley itself. Some grapefruit accompanies this along with vanilla and short bread.

Finish: Medium in length. It’s slightly bitter with a mild dash of salt but I can’t quite place what it is. Some lemon zest appears as well.

Conclusion: Compass Box do some fantastic work and they are so transparent about it. This series features some really beautiful artwork on the bottles and some good whisky to boot. I’ve had a couple of Balblair’s to date and this one tops the lot. It’s light and fruity but still manages to incorporate a few savory notes from the toasted barley and short bread. Overall, very enjoyable dram. Would I buy a bottle? Definitely.

Final Score: 82.

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Scotch Whisky Review #141, Highland Review #32, Whisky Network Review #189

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.