Balblair 18-year-old

The nose is extremely faint, but the texture is noticeably buttery. It feels like licking a knife that was used to slice fruit and butter for toast, then rinsed only with water.

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2020/01/22/twe-show-2019-balblair/ C: The same profile as the 15yo, just with more oak maturation, simples! Also, there’s a touch more mushroom foostiness on the finish gaining it an extra point. The price of around £115 is a stretch for a malt of this calibre and age however.

A balanced and beautiful malt. I really liked it.

Nose: light floral, caramel, quite pleasant and even, there are citrus notes, also in the smell there are nuances of fruit stone or bitterness mixed with dry grass. Taste: peppery, caramel, noble, with a slight bitterness. The finish is medium-long. Overall, the whisky is very well balanced. Final grades: 23; 22; 21; 22

Tasted against a Balblair 15. In my opinion, this is an excellent alternative to hyped distilleries with a similar age and sherry profile. The 18 is much more ambitious in terms of price. In the meantime, however, these are as good as all "adult" bottlings. That's why I find it difficult to include the price in the rating. Regardless of that, one can say: A really tasty thing that you definitely can't go wrong with. But he can't knock me out either...

Balblair 18 Year Old, 46%. Official release SMSW, NCF and natural colour. Consumed Nov 2024. Dark amber, an orange-tinted brown. A soft, ‘warm’ aroma that sort of gives the impression of pulling back. Hints at raisin and molasses gently. Cranberry and leather. Cherry or plum. All very restrained. More cherry cough drops over time. Never fully comes out of itself. Body is just a touch slicker than water, but not oily territory. Taste is raisin-focused, low-impact, front-loaded on the palate and washes away too quickly on the finish for me. Time does bring a little chocolatiness into the finish. Very nice concentration up-front, although very simplistic and raisin-like, almost like watered-down PX (but with more of an alcoholic kick). Pretty tasty stuff, although you don’t need to buy an expensive 18 year old whisky for this sort of experience. Still, very pleasant stuff indeed – very pleasant. If it were from Glendronach or distilled by a closed distillery a few decades ago it would have a 92 score on Whiskybase, there is no question. 3.625/86+

This whisky is very well made. It's rich, smooth, well-behaved but still complex. The utter gentleman amongst all whiskies. It would almost be essential to have a bottle in one's cabinet.

N- Begin with liquorice and herbaceous, oilmen, rebellious oak oozing thru in a good way to pronounce a firm precense. Chocolate and espresso, naturally robust. Treacle, moist tobacco and wild flower. All going well but seems to drop a notch after breath. (88/22) P- Wee tight, with water drawing out the juicy oak, sweet spices and grilled buttery apricot. (87/21) F- Long, ultra smooth and velvet, hints leather with treacle coated dried fruits, icing sugar and fine oak nuance linger. (89/22) B/B- 87/21 Weighted Rate- 86pt Cr-1, Fr-1, Fl-2, Pt-0, Ft-0, Sp-0, Wd-3, Wn-2, Sc-1 — at The Whisky Bar, Kuala Lumpur.

a good dram, but way too expensive. Sorry Balblair, I won´t buy a bottle at more than 100 Euros for an 18 year old.

Already tasted thus one recently from a bottle just opened , this time the score is a little better. no notes tasted at a show

Tasted in 2019 in Pfäffikon together with the 12 and 15. Here the annoying elements are already subsiding, but unfortunately the 18 year old doesn't really want to inspire either.

Good nose, below average taste and below average finish for an 18 year old whisky. It lacks complexity in taste and finish. The leather note in the nose is unpleasant. I value it at €70, but not at €100 or even more.

Very nice whisky, I like their line up. 18y is the best, 12y old the best value for money.

Apple strudel with raisins, almond slivers, allspice, and cinnamon. Plus lovely notes of old oak and furniture polish. Very balanced and smooth. [84~87] nice, there is something to discover, purchase incentive only with good price-enjoyment ratio :-)

Subtle, layered, and quite diverse in flavor. A very nice whisky!

Part 3/8 of a Balblair range share. The previous 12 and 15 were decent whiskies and pleasant to drink. Let’s see what an adult Balblair has to offer.

nice standard without corners and edges. Very tasty. Nice balance of bourbon and sherry barrel aging.

This would be fine if it cost £40-£50 but at anywhere between £100-£120 this is a poor quality taste experience, though nowhere near the absurdly priced 25 year OB which is an affront to anyone who knows the value of whisky.

Tasted at the distillery. The line up of 12, 15, 18 follows an even progression. With a progression in price as well. The 18 has the most flavour, yet the 15 was my fav, and still I think the 12 is best value for money.

Powerful, heavy whisky, which is characterized by dark oak and sherry aromas, but shows little fruit but pleases with dry and oaky spicy flavors.

Nose: Quite a different profile than the 17 year old with more fruit (pear, toffee’d apples), spices, leather and a leafy note as well, not as sweet as it’s younger sibling, and certainly not as sweet/ sherried. Palate: Spicy up front, then the orchard fruit kick in, with apricot and nectarine, as well as vanilla, maybe crème brulé, and toffee, sweeter and spicier than the nose suggested, very balanced and very more-ish, with the dried fruit arriving only very late. Finish: Cinnamon , clove and sultanas (Xmas cake anyone?) Bottom line: Lovely stuff. A notch up from the 15, harmonious and easy drinking whisky, for a nice autumn / winter day, or with a nice chocolate desert, good balance, and well made, the best of the bunch so for , for me. (looking fwd to trying the 25..)

[Quick festival note] Clearly not as good as the sherried 1990's used to be for the same price, but still a very good whisky all in all. Well, granted, I'm a Balblair stan ...

Balblair has a 15 year old and an 18 year old whisky in the core range. There are 3 years and 40 € between the two. The specs are similar, both aged in American Oak and then finished in Spanish Oak Butts. Does it really make sense to dig deeper – are there the deeper flavors for that too? www.glen-efze.de

81-85 – Wow, really good one

Cocoa, dark chocolate, caramel and vanilla.

I do not like it that much the 15th is better; in this dominate the oak notes and the associated spice too much

20 21 21 21 83

This Balblair offers too little for the high price

First nose: delicious! Dark, musty, old, complex, fruity, somewhat flowery, round. Somehow a bit of everything. Delicious! In the finish (similar to the 15-year-old) clearly oak - you have to like that. As for me, I like it. A little citrus fruit now and then shines through on the nose, which refreshes the whisky a bit. What else is there to say? Did I already mention "delicious"? Forever long finish. But even here: 100 € is somehow not worth it ...

RATING: 88pts – |87 – 89 (B+) → Great| — Always nice to have a bottle of this.

Solid whisky with a clear sherry influence. However, I would not spend more than 100 € on it.

Color: Bronze. Nose: Rich, warm aromas of toffee and baked pear, elegantly intertwined with a hint of new leather. Palate: Rich and juicy flavors of apricot, accompanied by subtle notes of oak cask and creamy vanilla. Finish: Long and lingering.

Tasted this on the same time as the 15yo, and they're quite similar. Only difference is that the 15yo is more on solely peach, where the 18yo has some more chocolate influence besides the peach. In fullness and finish it's comparable though.

amazing red drapes so sweet amazing glass ! mild flaver this is amazing. From the 12,15,18 the one i liked best whas 15,18,12

Delicious, tasty, anything but boring. However, I don't find it very complex, but appropriate for its age. He doesn't have to hide from his peers.

Enjoyed the sample, no need to buy

Nice, soft and round mature malt with a clear sherry influence. If you like it less brutal but more delicate, you're in the right place. For me a great, drinkable bottling with the present ex-sherry stamp. Contrary to some other opinions, I like it better than the 15 year old. A nice drinking whisky for the home bar.

Distillery tasting but reviewed from a takeaway dram. Nice enough whisky and the body in particular is pleasing. However, it’s lacking complexity for its age, which—paired with the price—makes it a bottle that I can’t foresee purchasing.

The Balblair character and sherry have formed a beautiful fusion. Yes, you need to like sherry to appreciate this whisky, but it doesn't offer the same experience as a Balblair lover buying a bottle of sherry. It's a full-bodied, balanced 18-year-old bottling that still has a hint of sweetness. Interestingly, while the 15-year-old expresses the Balblair character in the finish, this bottling almost exclusively expresses it on the palate. Beautiful. Price-performance ratio: Average to good. Would I buy it again?: Well, I wouldn't specifically look for it for myself, but I would consider it as a gift, taking into account the recipient's style and level.

Tasted at the London Whisky Show 2025

A smoother and more polished version of the Balblair 15, with a stronger cask influence. The active bourbon cask takes centre stage, perhaps a little too much, overshadowing the spirit somewhat.

Very typical highland dram. Not bad at all but i was expecting just a little bit more from an 18 year old.

Smooth commercial licked whisky. I want to find fault with something, but there is nothing!

This particular release is quite boring for 18 years of aging, essentially the same tag, but pretentious packaging with a hint of premium quality and a very high rating, but this is not so. It's better to save money and take balblair 15 e.

I don't get the rave reviews on here for this bottle. It's fine... Not particularly smooth or interesting for an 18. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills reading all the reviews that are calling the flavours complex. There's nothing wrong with it, but its pretty boring and generic. Something I might get for a boomer who loves boring old man scotch but there's far better 18 year old bottles out there at the same price point. I'd probably pick a bottle from a more interesting distillery that's half the price and half the age over this. TLDR: Forgettable* *But I fully admit that maybe I'm just not refined enough to appreciate it and might just have trash taste as someone who has only been autistically obsessing over scotch for a couple years.

Tasted in a Balblair sample range share. This one was my last sample. I can conclude that I don't have to buy Balblair anymore. Price-quality is gone. This is a good example of it.

What a very mediocre whisky for a lot of money. Nose: 86/100 taste 84/100 aftertaste 85/100. 46% is also too light. Unfortunately. So long in the barrel with this shaky result. Maybe mothball again.

Tasted near the end of a day at the London Whisky Show. Big grain of salt.

One of Scotland's oldest and most picturesque distilleries, founded in 1790, is located six miles from the town of Tain. The distillery uses two pot stills and produces 1.8 million liters of spirit annually. Before launching its aged whisky series, various vintages were released. Our matured release is part of the regular lineup; the spirits were initially matured in ex-bourbon casks and then finished for three years and eight months in ex-Oloroso casks. The whisky has a natural color, is unfiltered, and is bottled at a pleasant 46% abv. Nose: The aroma greets you with a powerful wave of caramel and sweet, fresh dried fruits: prunes, dried apricots, raisins, figs, and dates. Orange marmalade, flower honey, nuts, cinnamon, ginger, and the bitterness of fruit pits are also noticeable. A slight minerality is present. The aroma is very pleasant and rich. Palate: the taste is creamy caramel, a scattering of juicy, fresh dried fruits, nuts in honey, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, oak. Finish: Pleasant dried fruit sweetness, grapefruit zest, sweet spices, ginger, wet wood. Above-average length. Balance: An excellent, vibrant, delicious, and nuanced whisky with a powerful sherry influence. It's well-balanced, and the fresh sherry cask's work is evident, but the end result is a generic, commercial product. Everything about it is good, but it lacks its own distinctive character, and so doesn't really grab the palate. N22, P22, F21, B22

Dark amber color. There is some oilyness, but less than 12 YO and 15 YO Balblair.

Intense vanilla, toffee, white fruits, plum, grapes from Italy, with a little banana, cereals, liquid honey. It's very rich. On the palate, exotic fruits, mango, citrus, mirabelle plum, grapefruit, papaya, passion fruit. Lemon zest. Ginger and turmeric. An ounce of coal and wood to frame it all. Varnish. Very long finish, on cola, nuts, peanuts, and some discreet spices. Nutmeg, clove. Macadamia nuts, cocoa powder. Rich and deep soil. Heather. It's really nice, and with a great variety of fruits. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2020/12/balblair-18-yo.html

Tasted in the living room More based on leather and sherry than the 15 years, the value added compared to the latter is very low (the balance is worse if we take into account the price) Enthusiasm 2/5 Whisky n ° 2033

I was about to say that the item is overpriced, but then I realise it is 2022 already...

Gute Mischung aus Bourbon- und Sherryfass. Ausgeprägte Toffee/Vanille-Note in der Nase. Wunderschönes Mundgefühl bei leichter Öligkeit, schöne Eiche. Alkohol könnte etwas besser eingebunden sein, leicht „bissig“…

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2022/11/10/the-whisky-show-2022-old-rare-part-1/ C: I think this is the expression Roy [Aqvavitae] had commented on “as Balblair was”. Following on from the 15yo, indeed, this IS more like it. Fruity, a little waxy yet crisp, and with Balblair’s yesteryear fluffy bready quality, both the 15yo and 18yo realise two more points [from moi] in 2022. Shame then, that a bottle is £135 rrp [more like RIP].