Balblair 12 years

[@Dog-ManTribe]

You guys are great. Thanks for all of your vids! Keep up the great work!

[@remdog6699]

Ya I always look forward to the information they provide about a bottle before the tasting. 👏

[@superjoshi6654]

Shelf behind you is fully stacked.. no gaps between bottles...seeing for the first time 😀😀

[@robinsharkey6658]

still got a few 1983 first release :)

[@perkristiansandgren4132]

Wow! I got the 1990 2 release 1990-2017 and the 2000 2 relise

[@rogerrabbit8756]

I seen this 1983 yesterday for 580$ Canadian.

[@isabadacoo]

I get so much vanilla, almost a pastry note in this one. But yes, orange and oak. Such a lovely dram!

[@Tantrum777]

Still have a bottle of 2002 vintage, I can not bring myself to open it. I hope the 12 year old is as good and is still priced well.

[@tatatatann]

what is the nosing glass there?

[@iancrombie8862]

Is this similar to Glengoyne 12?

[@linbenjamin4297]

nahhh. Glengoyne 12 is sweeter at nose. I believe that Glengoyne 12 is better

[@bendeco]

Id like to have a similar relationship with my dad

[@NZAnimeManga]

I really, really dislike the tacky rebranding and price hikes. Balblair, with their vintage system and integrity bottling, used to be a gem yet now it appears like they've sold out to the lowest common denominator. Rip.

[@portnaluinge]

Completely agree. They (or rather the parent company) have chosen to throw away everything that made them unique, and instead just make both the range and the branding as blandly generic as possible. And the 400% price hike at the top end is beyond ridiculous. I don't think I'll ever buy a bottle again (which is sad but, as a consumer, what else can you do when you so profoundly disagree with a company's direction?)

[@mozilla2576]

@@portnaluinge Are you trying to say that Balblair sold for $15?? I don't get y'all complaints....the whiskey is still the same whiskey, who cares what bottle it's in? The price on everything goes up over time. And what difference does it make whether they give the date of distillation or the age of the final product? Y'all sure are pickey about your packaging.

[@portnaluinge]

@@mozilla2576 no, what I’m saying is that, here in the UK at least, the previous top of the line bottling was the 1990 2nd edition (bottled in 2017, so a 27 yr old) which sold for ~£100, but was replaced by a 25 yr old with a £500 price tag. At least where I live, that’s a price hike of 400%. That’s the most extreme example, but all of the replacement bottling were more expensive than the old ones, like the 18 yr old, which cost double what the 2000 2nd edition cost, while only being one year older. But you’re right, price rises aside, if the whisky in the bottle were the same and only the packaging and naming conventions had changed, then it’d be easier to take, but it isn’t. Not remotely. Balblair’s new owners have said that they did away with the vintages because, while whisky enthusiasts loved them, they were too complex for casual whisky drinkers. So they dumbed things down to be more conventional and to broaden the appeal. Except they did the same with the whisky in the bottles as well. The old vintage Balblairs were a celebration of the blender’s art - a rich and ever changing blend of casks that presented huge complexity and an incredible range of flavours. The current range, like the 15 and 18, are just yet another sherry-heavy whisky, where the cast influences swamp the distillate. All shipped in cheaper packaging while charging much more money. I’d call that the definition of lazy, cynical marketing, but YMMV.

[@iancrombie8862]

Cant remember a rebranding that improved a whisky...Talisker..Benromach for example.

[@paintspot1509]

​​@portnaluinge the 1990 and the 2000 were finished in sherry casks just like the new range. Are you sure this is not a personal bias on your behalf? If they sold a 27 YO whisky for £100 now days it would sell out in seconds and be the best value whiksy in the world.

[@robinsharkey6658]

don't see myself buying these new AS releases

[@RomainRiviere]

Don't buy this! Let's bring the old vintages back (old prices too)

[@perkristiansandgren4132]

😍😍😍 god plan

[@NZAnimeManga]

Agreed. Stuff the marketing middle management who foisted this on us.