ralfy review 1047 - Balblair 15yo @ 46%vol: (2024)

Рет қаралды 11,835

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 78

@bluesmanen1 2 ай бұрын

Ever since the rebranding of Balblair a few years ago, I think this one and the 12yo is really great whisky, in their own way, they are quite different. The 17yo is also really good, but has become a bit expensive now. This 15yo I pay around €65 (in todays currency)for a 1L bottle, I think that's a really good price

@jamescostigan3721 2 ай бұрын

I'm just two years into my mid-life+ whisky journey, so I don't have the earlier vintage version experience for comparison, but this is one of my very favorite drams at the moment. I love the 12, as well. I've come to appreciate your advice on patience and giving a pour time in the glass. I'll generally have this in a flight of a few drams that I take out to my backyard campfire, so it is generally in the glass for anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour or longer before I get to it, starting my flight with lower aged or NAS pours. And it is simply just a pleasure for me every time I sip it. Thanks for another in-depth review. Cheers!

@miserablerhurensohn 2 ай бұрын

Glad I had one of these to follow along with. Oddly enough, the cork on mine was so tight that the top broke off and I needed the cork-screw to get it open. Over the years, I have saved corks of various sizes and materials and I had a perfect one to make a good seal and sturdy enough not to break.

@Mylatestdram 2 ай бұрын

I am quite hyped about Balblair at the moment, not from the current ones, but the Vintage ones. I've opened a 20yo. Single Cask recently and it was simply one of the finest Bourbon matured whiskys I've ever tasted.

@WhiskyNotesCS 2 ай бұрын

The current Balblair 18yo is great. AND: at Balblair you can get a handfill bottle, ~14yo, Cask Strength, 1st Fill Bourbon for 99£. Beautiful Dram and it was the cheapest and oldest one on my road trip trough the highlands a few weeks ago. ☝🏼

@djbeacon6895 2 ай бұрын

Good to hear the goats are helping out around the bars!

@hinglemccringleberry5431 2 ай бұрын

I once had a single sherry cask Balblair bottled for the Whisky Exchange. It was one of the finest Highland style sherry malts I ever tasted. Extremely complex despite the almost black color. Up there with the best Glendronachs or Glenfarclas Family Casks.

@timkempisty258 2 ай бұрын

Balblair is the poster child for batch variation. I had an older 12 that was so light and grassy and dry... amazing! The newer 12 has more sweet wet bourbon cask. Pedestrian; average. Older 15 had almost Glendronach-style cask influence... superb! My most recent 15: Homogenized. Passable, but nothing to write home about. I'm right there with you. Balblair is absolutely capable of greatness. It just happens in fits and starts these days.

@JimmyLeg Ай бұрын

"I was young and nobody warned me." A shared experience if there ever was one Ralfy.

@Norris_84 2 ай бұрын

Very honest Ralphy, much appreciated. I've only had the 12 year old and really liked it but been a wee while now. I've been put off by the 15 simply because of the price. I'm seeing it typically going for £80/85 which for a 15 year, in my opinion, is a little steep.

@markanderson8677 2 ай бұрын

Thanks Ralfy! You should do a Ralfy top ten "-)

@jumpingwhale 2 ай бұрын

no please, ralf's recipe is top allready, you can look ONLINE SCOTCH WHISKY AWARDS, called the oswa's, good luck mark

@markveganism5003 23 күн бұрын

I grabbed a bottle of this from your last review..just about to have another tonight with a drop of water and sitting for 30 mins

@sandrofazzolari8833 2 ай бұрын

How is it possible that more people don’t love Balblair?. I always have enjoyed it. Thanks for the sincere review dear Ralfy. Kindest regards, Sandro

@herfeui 2 ай бұрын

awful marketing

@timkempisty258 2 ай бұрын

Inconsistency and batch variation, to be perfectly honest. I've had Balblairs that were truly outstanding, but never twice in a row.

@theskiband-ur3tw 2 ай бұрын

I’ve still not managed to buy an official bottling since they rebranded. However, I had just sat down with a dram of Cadenhead’s Balblair 10yo rum finish when I noticed the email with this review. Enjoying this one, though it’s a bit hot and bottled at about 60%.

@michaelm.9680 2 ай бұрын

Anyone wondering, why Scotch Whisky exports went down 18% worldwide last year (30% Germany)? It's because we are presented more and more bottlings like this one which aren't as good as they used to be but are way more expensive. And the industry demands tax lowerings instead of keeping the the quality high. Hardly buy anything these days and am glad to have some bottlings from the good old times.

@1stMemberEver 2 ай бұрын

Totally agree, Balblair is not what it used to be. If you are experienced whisky drinker, you would avoid modern Balblairs.

@WhiskyLoversSociety 2 ай бұрын

Did a review on it some time ago and it is lovely. We need to keep it a secret…….. word is out now.

@ericlani2622 2 ай бұрын

I have an older bottling of a 21 yr CS balblair, it is one of the finest whiskies I have ever had

@marknagy9714 2 ай бұрын

Oh my gosh. This video was 54 seconds old when I opened it with 33 views, 3 comments and many likes. Your fans can’t get enough of you Ralfy!

@Implosionstechnologie 2 ай бұрын

Patreons get earlier access, I guess.

@hubertweisz9218 2 ай бұрын

Hello Ralfy, i have some older Balblairs and they are very good. I would like to see you reviewing Ardnahoe Whisky.

@bobsander4589 2 ай бұрын

Love both the 15 and 18. Older expressions are prohibitively expensive sadly. Got a few of the old vintage bottles which are excellent.

@HHHThanatos 2 ай бұрын

Whisky of the year 2023 for me!

@DanteRising 2 ай бұрын

You are absolutley right about the scrumpy. The Uncarbonated one in a big glass jar that is a golden colour with the two dudes on the front That $hit is deadly. I felt like i drank an entire bottle of spirits straight. All over the place i was. And i can drink

@mincey808 2 ай бұрын

Funny you mention the cork - the one on my bottle popped up after opening and remained open for a couple of days until I realised. Subsequently the whisky tasted a little flat (or could have just been my imagination) but I haven't been too keen to buy another bottle since.

@manimangat7293 2 ай бұрын

The rebrand hurt my heart. I make sure to point that out to all the lads at the balblair stands at the whisky shows😂 I have a very good collection of the vintage 90, the 89 a few 91s and a couple of the 83s (my birth year). I'll gladly savour these over the coming years. Great juice, though virtually all need decent oxidation before they properly open up. Can't see myself purchasing the rebranded bottles ever.

@robfut9954 2 ай бұрын

It’s an odd case, the old bottle was fairly ugly… but the new bottle is also ugly but is sweatier and very “try hard” with its fake vintage design.

@manimangat7293 2 ай бұрын

@robfut9954 granted, never the prettiest bottle, but the juice was great. Plus the whole vintage angle was different. Balblair did their own thing built a solid foundation. However, the climate has changed and balblair undervalued their worth in today's economy. It's just a shame that the jump was so sudden and so pronounced. £99 to around £500 for their 25 year old plus bottling virtually overnight was a smack in the mouth. I wouldn't say it's beyond the realm of possibility that their traditional good practices will slowly be phased out in the name of maximising profits either. Sad times

@robfut9954 2 ай бұрын

@@manimangat7293 how long ago was it 99?

@manimangat7293 2 ай бұрын

@robfut9954 the 90 2nd release was bottled in 2013, I think I must have bought a bottle for my father around 2015. It was still available for a while after that. I'm not sure how long exactly. But the 91 3rd release was then released around 2018 so was around for a fair bit before selling out also. So probably around 2020 when it switched up. The 91 retailed at £160

@robfut9954 2 ай бұрын

@@manimangat7293 in the US scotch sky rocketed around that same time. And many brands that used to be cheaper started charging high prices in line with the bigger greedy brands. I think when they saw fewer sales during the pandemic they figured maybe they can simply raise prices on those who stayed loyal?

@mendipfox1650 2 ай бұрын

I bought a bottle of Balblair 15 last year. Pretty good, if not a little forgetful. Very quaffable which is no bad thing. Think I paid £56. Not sure I’d pay £80.

@OnceUponADoctor 2 ай бұрын

Holy shit. This is a great review.

@heatherharrison264 2 ай бұрын

I killed off a bottle not too long ago. I liked it well enough that I drank down that bottle faster than normal. I haven't had any of the older releases, so I don't have that frame of reference, but it isn't too difficult to find and is good for the price, so I'm not complaining. I have noticed changes in some of the booze that I have been drinking for decades, and these changes aren't always for the better. Since I got started in the 1990s, I have seen a lot of change in many California red wines. The warming climate seems to be resulting in riper grapes, and this is turning some of the wine into unbalanced fruit bombs. This is a stylistic change that many people like, but I'm an old curmudgeon who prefers the wine the way it used to be. Fortunately, there still exists wine that is made in the older, more balanced style.

@lovebedi 2 ай бұрын

Agree , we are changing for good :-)

@jimmclachlan5941 2 ай бұрын

Bring back the vintages , balblair 90 is in my top 5 best ever whiskies.

@cantbendknee 2 ай бұрын

Balblair before the rebranding is usually quite reasonably priced at auction still.

@ironmantran 2 ай бұрын

Cork ! ... interesting you mentioned this : all my 10 open of 12 in my stocks have faulty cork ! ! (( the back top separated from the cork body, but no leakage)).

@ADSCP 2 ай бұрын

I find it for around 80-90€, isn’t it too much?

@wilseph1 2 ай бұрын

That would be the Balblair rebrand for you!

@singlemaltwhiskyenthusiast9248 2 ай бұрын

@cantbendknee 2 ай бұрын

Wait prices will go down. Production is slowing

@rupertansell4662 2 ай бұрын

Seems to be about £70-75 in the UK. To be honest I love the 12yo which you can pick up for less than £50…now that is good value for money IMHO

@MrBillybonka 2 ай бұрын

1 of my all time favorite was the 17 yo.. It was about 65eu

@PierreMoisan-vf2ze 2 ай бұрын

Hi Ralfy Concerning kiln drying: Having work for years for sawmills industry I would say that kiln dry could create a more uniform and deeper drying with no stain fungus (black or blue color of the wood) Could it change flavor and cask yield of exchange with spirit? It worth evaluating cause whisky is very expensive and producers need ways to lower cost. Keep on your good work Ralfy your review are always interesting!🥃cheers!

@oliverdramgood8938 2 ай бұрын

Have ist open for 6 weeks. It gets better over time. I like it. Corkproblem the same in Germany. With a little bit of research you find it in germany for under 70€.

@Freddie-Moses 2 ай бұрын

Nice to have a box for when gifting as the Balblair bottle is a strange shape

@jumpingwhale 2 ай бұрын

i like balblair very much ralf, maybe i buy the 10 , ty , greetings to the cat, give him a nice treat and a bothy mouse. balblair is a malt youll remember later

@mr2gordons940 2 ай бұрын

Ralfy, time for a road trip to the sources of casks, let the producers speak for how they're ageing the wood and building the casks. Maybe back to the cutting of the trees, transporting, cutting, drying, etc. all the way to their filling and warehousing, to give us the whole picture, beyond one man's opinion of what's actually happening.

@DrumondArt 2 ай бұрын

I love this bottle!

@utoobia 2 ай бұрын

I was surprised how much I liked this. On sale for $85 US. Would buy again. “Low prices” do not exist in the US for single malts.

@hardindr 2 ай бұрын

Sadly, true…

@hardindr 2 ай бұрын

Low prices do not really exist for any quality spirits in the US at this point…

@DavidUKesb 2 ай бұрын

I've never understood the issue with withdrawing the vintages and replacing with age statements. I can only assume that those who do have a problem with the change never buy age statement whiskies from any distillery.

@ffll8427 2 ай бұрын

I clicked as fast as I could, I still remember the 1990 2nd Edition extremely fondly, it was available for around the same price as the 15 year old is now - and it was a 25-ish year old bottling!!! Is this remotely as good?

@sebastianr.55 2 ай бұрын

I know the old Balblair 1990 and have an open bottle of the Balblair 15. The 1990 is way better, but the Balblair 15 is not a bad whisky. It's actually exactly as Ralfy says, the whisky is initially sharp and needs a lot of time in the glass. I left half of the first large dram to stand overnight and then it was a different whisky. I had the Balblair 17 (duty free) before and it was only really good after it had been open for a few months. This whisky needs time and oxygen. I recommend buying Balblair 15 in aduty free shop as well. I paid 57 € for 1 liter.

@robfut9954 2 ай бұрын

Fun fact, Ardmore is not cheap in the US. Odd how that works.

@everwind5691 2 ай бұрын

Ralfy, I really believe their is a shortage of old mature oak as it takes 50-100 years to grow to be usable. We are deforesting the world and replacing the hardwoods with quick growing pines. I think this is impacting barrels. Of course demand is huge and is likely greater than supply and there is no real solution other than time. So I think this is contributing to the old is better. The whisky industry is a victim of their own success. I am sure really old/good barrels with tight grains are a premium price these days, and coopers are a dieing breed as barrels are no longer used for shipping like they were used for everything. I also think Inver House has been guilty of cost cutting that has impacted quality, Old Pultney has really taken a hit in quality.

@George-wf7vk 2 ай бұрын

My bottle has no vinegar taste or aftertaste… maybe you had bad batch?

@JonnyParker- 2 ай бұрын

Has anyone ever used "mighty-morphing malty-rangers" for the malt mention ?

@martinbeen 2 ай бұрын

Don't blame the kurk Ralfy, i wanna bet it was the cat :p

@JonathanRL98 2 ай бұрын

Ralfy

@kevinnordby4808 2 ай бұрын

I’ve had Balblair 15 a handful of times and it always hits me as the scotch that is the closest to being a bourbon. So close that you might as well just get a bourbon.