r/Scotch Ballechin 11 2009

 

As soon as I’d heard r/Scotch had chosen a heavily peated cask to bottled, I was interested. When I’d read it was a brand/distillery I’d barely heard of (at best), I was invested. I grabbed a bottle when it released, and about a year later I’ve finally gotten the chance to give it a review. The Wardhead was alright even though peat is my preferred profile, and the Ardmore was pretty good, too. Let’s see if this selection tickled me, too.

Ballechin 11, 2009 Vintage, The Ultimate, Highland Single Malt, 58.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on August 7, 2009 and matured in cask number 180, a fist-fill Sherry butt, for 11 years and bottled on September 30, 2020 yielding 615 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Auburn, polished mahogany; 1.5.

Nose: Smoky red fruit, nutty. Slightly medicinal. 

Taste: Spice and fruit, oak, smoke.

Finish: Hot, spice, musty, nuts, ash. Long.

I quite like it. It’s always nice to try a spin on peat different than your standard Islays. I’m glad it put Ballechin on my radar, and I definitely think it’s worth exploring more. I’m also interested in getting to know unpeated Edradour, as well.

Score: 86

r/Scotch Ardmore 11

Like the Wardhead, I was super happy to have gotten this. Rather than a sample, for this one I went for a whole bottle. It’s neat to have a cask that was selected by a group of people from reddit intended for us, it feels quite special, and I’m happy to drink it and share with some of my own circle. But just what is it that I’m sharing with them?

Ardmore 11, 2008 Vintage, Highland Single Malt, 57% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on June 19, 2008, aged 11 years in an ex-Bourbon barrel, bottled on October 7, 2019 by Morrison & MacKay, Ltd. for r/Scotch, sold by Fine Drams. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: White wine.

Nose: Medicinal, decaying peat. Seaweed.

Taste: Smoky peat, pepper.

Finish: Long. Pepper and smoke, barbecue spice.

It’s nice to have had a non-Islay peated well like this. My favorite element is that barbecue spice in the finish, it’s like a traditional barbecue sauce flavor, but if it was dry like a rub. The strength makes this a dram you can only savor slowly, and the flavors offered make it one you only want to enjoy that way. Between the two r/Scotch bottles, I made the right call for my flavor preference in which to get as a bottle given I couldn’t swing both of them. This is a home run for the price.

Score: 86

r/Scotch Wardhead 22

It was neat to be a part of the reddit community while this was being bottled specifically for us. I couldn’t swing a bottle of each (as happy as I was two were chosen!) so this is the one I ordered a sample of. 

Wardhead 22, Speyside Blend (teaspooned), 54.7% ABV

Minutia: A single malt in all ways but the one that counts, this is a cask of Glenfiddich teasooned with a bit of Balvenie so it can’t be sold as a single malt. It was distilled on February 20, 1997, matured in a refill hogshead, bottled on October 7, 2019, and enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Gold.

Nose: Honey, appley malt. Oaky vanilla.

Taste: Burst of fruit, specifically apple. There’s a malty quality that is reminiscent of beer. It’s not quite a distinct flavor, rather a general underlying profile.

Finish: Medium, citrus, vanilla, oak, malt returns.

This was very nice outside my normal flavor profile. Often I find myself disappointed in Speysides and wish they were better, and this is better in the ways I want it. I think for me, based on this and a 26 year old IB Speyside I recently reviewed, Speysides need significant age for me to increase cask influence. Having already tried but not reviewed the bottle of Ardmore I bought, I am confident I made the right choice in which bottle to buy based on my preferences, but I wouldn’t have been disappointed at all if I had the cash and space to have bought a whole bottle of this one.

Score: 81