Tomintoul Old Ballantruan 15 Year Old Review
The Old Ballantruan 15 has been without doubt the whisky which I have most enjoyed in 2019.
Runner-up’s have
been the Kilchoman 100% Islay 9th edition, Deanston 12 and Arran
Machrie Moor Cask Strength.
This Old
Ballantruan from Tomintoul distillery, (Angus Dundee) has been the only whisky
which has completely overawed me with a sense of all-encompassing pure whisky
pleasure. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.
First, the
details.
The Name
I have
copy/pasted this from the Old Ballantruan site.
“Old
Ballantruan takes its name from an exceptional source of the purest of waters,
the Ballantruan spring, nestled in the Cromdale Hills close to Tomintoul, the
highest village in the Highlands of Scotland”.
I suppose it
was a marketing decision of the parent company Angus Dundee, to separate the
Old Ballantruan brand from the rest of Tomintoul distillery’s range even though
it comes off the same stills by the Tomintoul staff and is matured in the same
warehouses.
There are
three single malts bearing the brand name “Old Ballantruan”. The
No-Age-Statement, the 10-Year-Old (both of which I have already reviewed) and
this limited edition 15-Year-Old.
Strangely,
this 15-Year-Old does not appear in the site at all! I wonder why?
The Peat, The Casks and the Colour
According to
the official site, this is a heavily peated (55 PPM) Tomintoul was made from barley
which was malt dried with slow burning peat from a local peat bog in the
Speyside region.
As I have
explained in previous blog posts, mainland peat is completely different to
island and coastal peat due to the different types of vegetation rotting in the
peat bog. Coastal peat bogs contain coastal vegetation such as seaweed with a
high salt content. Mainland peat contain more tree, heather and plant
vegetation which results in a completely different peat smoke aroma and flavour
experience.
The label
states that this 15 Year-Old, like its younger siblings, was bottled at 50% abv
and is Non-Chill-Filtered. However, I couldn’t help but notice its browny
orange sun tan so I wrote to the manager of the Tomintoul, asking him to
confirm the cask types and whether artificial colour had been added. To his
credit, Robert Fleming answered me within a few days.
Email
from Robert Fleming
To answer your questions:
1.
There isn’t any first fill bourbon used.
In 2003/04 we only filled second and third fill barrels and refill
hogsheads.
2. There is colour adjustment using E150a
We are always introducing new and
exciting expressions so I hope you continue to enjoy our whiskies.
Rant 1: Colouring of Premium Single Malts
E150a refers to the trade code for Caramel colouring.
E150b/c are
used in caramel sweets. E150d is used in Cola drinks. E150a is used to make
whisky look like most people’s image of what the colour of whisky looks like!
Considering
that this 15-Year-Old is a limited edition that comes with a premium price, it
shouldn’t be targeted at the casual whisky drinker. That being the case, why on
earth do they think it is a good idea to add artificial colour? The standard
marketing reason which is almost always given is that adding colour gives every
bottle from every batch, a standard colour which reassures the punter that they
are buying the same consistently high quality product. If one bottle (which
came from another batch run) was slightly more pale than the other bottled on
the shelf then this would, as the thinking goes, lead to the customer thinking
that there was something wrong with the product.
However, in
my opinion, this argument only holds water for the lower end of the market
aimed at casual drinkers. I would have thought that anyone who is willing to
fork out £70-90 on a heavily peated specialised limited edition bottle like
this would already be quite aware that single malt whisky can have colour
variations from batch to batch, depending upon the types and ages of casks
used. Moreover, unless the distillery vats (or marries) all the casks together
from a single batch, before bottling, then even bottles within the same batch,
will have colour variations. Every cask, even if comes from the same source and
even if it was made from the same wood in the same cooperage, can still have
slight colour as well as flavour differences. That’s the beauty of single malt
whisky. This fact should be celebrated and not hidden under a blanket of e150a
caramel colouring. It is about time that distilleries learnt this lesson. Non
Chill-Filtered is fantastic but let’s also see “Natural Colour” as well. I
believe that at this price level, a natural presentation will attract far more
sales than a constant but artificial colour.
Okay, my first
rant is officially over. Now prepare for yet another rant about…
Rant 2: So
called expert tasting notes which turn out to be complete nonsense
I wonder
just where these Whisky store sites get their tasting notes from? Master of
Malts Internet Site describes this Old Ballantruan 15 as tasting of “raisins
and sherry”. Yet, as I have already stated, this expression is in fact 100% Ex-Bourbon
cask matured. This is as far from sherry and raisins flavour notes as you could
possibly get!
Over the
years, I have actually come across quite a few whisky reviews, both written and
on YouTube, where the reviewer talks about ““sherry” flavour notes, yet absolutely
no Ex-Sherry casks have been used to mature the whisky!
Although
flavours are to a certain extent subjective, most people could accurately
describe flavours put into a cake, be they chocolate, lemon or caramel. The
problem with describing a whisky as having a sherry flavour is that hardly any
of these reviewers in truth, have ever drank a good quality sherry and port
before in their lives and don’t actually know what they taste like.
Even worse,
most base their description of sherry on cheap liquor cream sherries like Harvey’s
Bristol Cream. Therefore, they very often mistake well-made distillation new-make-spirit
with the flavour of cream sherry due to the fact that the spirit, straight off
the stills, can have a lovely white wine taste. Perhaps this combined with
sweet wood spicy notes leads them to start talking about sherry flavours.
Similarly,
some reviewers start talking about peatiness when the whisky is in fact
unpeated. What they are identifying as peat is quite often heavily charred oak
casks that impart a woody smokiness to the whisky. However, with just a little
experience you can differentiate between the sweet caramel smokiness of the
charred wood and the earthy forest or coastal bonfire smoke of peat. They are
completely different.
The Old
Ballantruan 15. 46% abv. Price £67 (UK).
Kosher
Certification by the OU, printed on the back of the label.
I have
already written an extensive and very positive review of the two standard Old
Ballantruan releases in a previous blog and was really looking forward to
trying the 15-Year-Old, ever since Douglas Fitchett, manager of Glencadam,
(sister distillery to Tomintoul), notified me that they had just released it. It
proved however quite difficult to track down and did not appear in any of the
online stores until quite recently.
Well, last
November, we were in the beautiful town of Inveraray in Argyll, where I spied
this bottle in a small independent specialist whisky shop called “Fyne Malts of
Inveraray” on Main Street East, (not to be confused with the much larger whisky
chain specialist shop across the road, entitled “The Loch Fyne Whiskies”).
The canister
and bottle style are pretty generic and typical of Tomintoul, but the artwork
really stands out. The question is, for good or for bad? It basically consists
of a dark milk chocolate background. On top of this, at the front of the
canister is a silhouette of workers digging up peat with a dramatic golden
orange-red sunset behind them. Finally, we have two wrap-around fake gold leaf
labels at the bottom overlaying the scene with the text “Aged 15 Years”,
sandwiched in-between.
Some might say this artwork is romantically dreamlike with rich warm colours
which catches the eye, others however might say its loud, gaudy and garish?
Personally, it reminds me of gift boxes of chocolates or even exotic holiday
brochures full of sunsets, from the 1980s.
So, it was Friday
night and we had all the family round, including the grandkids. After Kiddush
and HaMotzei, everyone settled down to enjoy the Challa and Chopped
Liver, eggs and onions, followed by Mushroom and Onion soup, whilst we caught
up with all the family news. I started off by serving a lovely light refreshing
and very unusual Glen Moray Rhum Agricole, which I had ordered online from “Master
of Malt” in the UK.
After
singing some Zemiros and a powerful Dvar Torah by my son-in-law,
we moved on to the main course of Roast Beef, Kishke and Coleslaw. To
accompany this, I served the lightly peated Bowmore Cask Strength Tempest V.
This is the whisky I’d serve to anyone as an introduction to Islay peated
whiskies. Far from being what the name “Tempest” implies, this is a very
approachable and gentle dram with very wide appeal.
For most at
the table, two drams is the limit but whilst the rest of my family were
enjoying all the home made cakes provided by my daughter and daughter-in-laws,
I decided to crack open this new bottle of Old Ballantruan 15, just to try the
neck fill, to get a hint of what it was like.
Initial
Impressions
Like most
whiskies which you have only just opened, especially at high abv (alcohol by
volume) strengths, you must not judge it as it will only reach its full
potential after a few weeks. However, this one broke all the rules!
It was so
utterly delicious and the experience so all encompassing, that I sat there
mumbling to myself, “Wow. This is incredible. Oh Wow!!”
In short, I
was experiencing the most enjoyable whisky tasting experience of the whole
year. It was that good.
Tasting
Notes
Colour and
Texture
As mentioned
above, just like the fake sunset on the label, the whisky itself does have a
fake orange brown suntan. All’s the pity. I would have liked to have seen the
natural colour which is probably more like a pale straw yellow.
The Non-Chill-Filtering
really shows as you swirl it around in your Glencairn glass. The syrupy treacle
like viscosity of the liquid leaves globules of liquid behind that stick like barnacles on the side of a ship.
Aroma
From the
very first smell and sip, I knew that it was going to be one of those increasingly
rare "Wow" whisky moments.
The first
thing you notice is a warming, soft all enveloping smoke or as they in
Scotland, “Peat Reek” *1
This isn’t
coastal peat but more like smouldering dry forest leaves and wood bark. It is a
sweeter smoke than the 10-Year-Old, with all the harsh edges ironed out. Yet,
it seems more powerful and all embracing.
It's like a lovely cosy relaxing warm open fireplace, whose heat completely envelops you like a comforting cosy blanket or old woolly jumper.
It's like a lovely cosy relaxing warm open fireplace, whose heat completely envelops you like a comforting cosy blanket or old woolly jumper.
Let’s be
clear about one thing. This is a heavily peated whisky at 55PPM (and believe
me, this is up there with the big boys), but, in my opinion, has the ability to
endear even those who don't usually enjoy heavily peated whiskies, to it. This
is because the Peat-Reek, combined with all the other rich flavours, is just so
silky soft and enticing.
When your
nose finally acclimatises to the peat, you start to become aware of all the
other notes. There are aromas of a concoction of lovely luscious ripe yellow
fruits. Grilled pineapple, yellow apples, chardonnay grapes, sweet honey and
treacle cake.
Along with
the peat, you have wood brisket style smoke as well. Along with this comes the smell of a new leather
armchair, dry sweet vanilla, pineapple juice and fruity charcoal wood smoke,
golden ripe sultana, caramelised crunchy apple strudel, smoky yellow custard.
There is a touch of parev bitter chocolate with slight coffee beans
perhaps?
It is a heavy,
relaxing, like a warm bath experience when sipping this. Sweet wood vanilla
spices, smoky creamy burnt Dulce Deleche caramel (Ribat Chalav). Apple
strudel which is slightly burnt and crunchy at the ends, where the apple and
sugar have crystallised and caramelised. Vanilla Marshmallows and coconut
pieces roasting on the fire.
Smoky raisin
and vanilla ice cream, a sprinkling of cinnamon and other sweet wood spices,
with burnt biscuit chips, golden ripe sultanas. No! On second thoughts, that's
too cold a description. This is hot ice cream, like a creamy vanilla, pineapple,
cinnamon and apple milky drink.
The taste
remains in the mouth which is why I would seriously recommend that you leave
this to the last dram of the evening. Like the Afikoman on Leil
HaSeder, you want to go to bed with the taste of this still in the mouth.
This was
without doubt; the most enjoyable whisky I have had the pleasure of drinking in
2019.
*1. Isn't it interesting how the English word "reek", today means "a bad smell", yet seems to come from the Gaelic and Norwegian, Danish and eastern European "Reek", meaning smoke? Is smoke always a negative aroma note? Not in this case! Incidentally, this word is remarkably similar to the Hebrew word for smell or aroma, which is רֵיחַ - “Rei’ach", (pronounced like the distillery BenRiach, which interestingly, in Hebrew, would be "The Source" of Aroma”).
Hi Reb, Welsh here. Excellent and enjoyable review my friend. I'm very much in agreement with your review of the 15 and Ballantruan. It seems that it replicates the indifference we once enjoyed with Glencadam. I mention it on well known Tuber events and they have no idea about the Ballantruan expressions. I wish they didn't colour and I have no idea why they do so. Who buys Ballantruan, for crying out loud, except whisky nerds that want natural? Great info about the difference of Island and mainland peat. Okay, how about the info of OU? Feel free to give me as much detail as you want. I think it's important and I would like to know. All the best. Welsh
ReplyDeleteHi Welsh. Thanks so much for popping in and commenting. It does seem weird doesn't it? I wonder who decides just how mauch E150a to put in there?
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