Well, I went to a tasting again tonight, it was a 'best of' from the last many years tasting. All very nice offerings, and readily available....except one. Somehow, they had sourced a 1990 Balblair limited casking (second release, was originally released without the extra time in sherry butts). It's a 23 year old whisky, which spent the first 20 years in first fill ex-bourbon white oak casks, and another three years in fine sherry butts. I had tried it a few years back at another tasting and was very impressed, but didn't buy any. And then it didn't exist anymore. So tonight, when it showed up I was very surprised and pleased. After the tasting, a vote was taken, and the Balblair took 14 of 22 votes for the favorite of the evening, and that was against some really good offerings from Talisker (Storm), Highland Park (Dark Origins), Glenmorangie (Signet), Jura (Prophecy), Auchentoshan Three Wood, Ardbeg (Uigeadail), Aberlour (A'Bunadh)....
It was a bronze metal winner at the 2014 World Whisky awards. Well deserved.
So I bought as many as they would let me have, it was in demand. I got to take four home. Happy happy day! A very refined, smooth whisky, you really get the oak but in the best of ways. I will have to sit down and enjoy more than a small shot of it some evening, and do a proper review. It may take a couple drams.
http://www.balblair.com/collection/158_1990
http://www.whiskynotes.be/2016/balbl...air-1990-2014/