Whisky: Ballantine's 30 Year (c. 1990)

Country/Region: Scotland/Blend

ABV: 43%

Cask: Oak

Age: 30 Years

Nose: Old wood and earth with delicate sweet honey, vanilla, wispy smoke and wood char, dried grass and woody crushed nut shells opened to wildflowers, oak moss, charcoal pencils and drafting supplies.

Palate: Medium to light-bodied and oily, wooden pencils and fallen logs met dried herbs, earthy wood ear mushroom, and dried grass; hints of fruit and chocolate lingered in the background, moss and stones with a touch of nuttiness and kiss of honey lingered near the end.

Finish: Long and slightly drying with earth, herbs, and vanilla.

Score: 7

Mental Image: Woodland Drafting Trip

Narrative & Notes: The aroma sketched an outdoors vista— a mountain meadow sitting before a placid lake with the smoldering embers from last night’s fire still hot enough to warm some morning coffee with a touch of vanilla cream. Earth and dried grass abounded on the nose with wispy smoke, charred wood, and a touch of charcoal. The charcoal was more like drafting supplies; no doubt this was a sketching trip into a spring-time woodland with pencils, cotton, and graphite meeting notes of wildflowers, oak moss, and dried pine nettles. Medium to light-bodied, the whisky was oily with a gentle viscosity that spread across the palate with wood, herbs, and woodland delights. Old wood appeared throughout, either fallen logs covered in moss and mushrooms, charred bits of old bonfire, or a trusty drafting pencil. Dried herbs, earthy wood ear mushrooms, nettles, and grass were there to collect on a hike, while hints of dried fruit and dark chocolate were there for snaking. A touch of nuttiness, more walnut than anything, lingered with malty sugars and a kiss of honey. The finish was long and slightly drying with earth, herbs, and vanilla.

I love Glenburgie, and one of the central components of the Ballantine’s blend is Glenburgie. Glentauchers is the other pillar, which I also enjoy and find one of the few distilleries I vastly prefer in sherry and proofed down closer to 46%. So, any blend with one of my favorites and a near favorite was bound to tickle my fancy, especially when it is a 1990s release and contains malt from the 1960s. What a time machine!

Old blended whisky bottles can be a real gamble. I always caution people who want to chase them that due to the storage conditions of the bottle, it is entirely possible you could have something that tastes like cabbage water and cardboard. That said, when they are good, they provide a beautiful window into whisky flavors and blending standards in the past. As this was from the 1990s, it was not that old, so the risk was much lower.

I loved this; it had some older Glenburgie elements with a flavor profile that veered far more toward wood and earth than I expected. It featured a beautifully balanced sweetness and a gorgeous oily mouthfeel that just coated the palate and carried on for a long finish. Why in the world did Ballantine’s drop the bottling abv to 40% for their product range? Okay, part of the answer is just because they could, but I really think popping it back up would breathe some new life into the brand… though; considering how ubiquitous it can be in some parts of the world, they do not need my help.