[Quick Review] Ballechin - 14 years old 2005 (The Whisky Exchange) 58.8%

Picture courtesy of www.thewhiskyexchange.com

 

Distillery: Edradour
Bottler: Distillery for The Whisky Exchange
Age: 14 years old
Distilled: 2005
Bottled: May 2020
Cask: 2nd fill sherry hogshead
Abv: 58.8%
Unchillfiltered: Yes
Natural Colour: Yes
Nb of bottles: 296

Extra: Bottled under the Ballechin name (peated Edradour)


My tasting notes

Nose: Sweet and ashy, herby notes too, dark fruit (blackberry and blackcurrant) dried fruit (raisins), slight tar, hints of coriander and mint, dried oak and some dark chocolate.

Palate: Not as sweet as I was expecting. Some sweetness and fruity notes but also quite green and herby with some mint and eucalyptus. Cold bonfire.

Finish: Quite drying, oak, cherry, slight acrid smoke and cough sweets.

With water: The nose is fresher and mintier. It loses some of the rich ashy and tarry notes. The palate is slightly sweeter and spicier but I feel the flavours are not quite as well balanced. The finish is slightly spicier too with a little more artificial sweetness (cough sirup)


Overall, it is a pretty good dram with some interesting flavours but I am glad I had the opportunity to get hold of a sample of it rather than committing to a whole bottle as I am not sure I would drink a lot of this one...

Slainte all!

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