Old Ballantruan 15 yo

 

 

 

50°

Distillery : Tomintoul - Speyside 

Ex-Bourbon Casks

Original Bottling 

Core Range

Single Malt 

Launched in 2018

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Peated around 55 ppm

 

 

 

Every year, the people of Tomintoul devote themselves to the production of peated whisky for two weeks, and this is what it gives, in the NAS version, 10 years of age, or 15 years of age. Its name comes from the Ballantruan source, which supplies the distillery with water.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Nice herbaceous peat, a bit dry, light vanilla and lemon, whitewash and brown earth, it's quite full-bodied but not very complex. Lychee, coconut and banana by digging deep, a cloud of milk, but in fact it remains very vegetal. On the palate, it's more citrusy, still mossy peat, grapefruit, fairly light spices. Clove, nutmeg, white pepper. Forest berries. Proper finish, but less powerful than expected, earthy charcoal, potatoes and turnips, raisins. Cola. Wood a bit charred.

 

In Short,   

It's not bad, but I'm not thrilled either. It has several qualities, but it lacks character. It would have needed a more complex maturation perhaps. Also, the whisky doesn't seem so aged, nor so peaty. Price vary greatly depending on the country, but it's still expensive for my taste.

Score : 85

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Apocalypse Orchestrza - The Garden of Earthly Delights