The past year has taught me something. Don’t hold something back for special moments; it’s pointless. What you may fail to realise is that special moments are all around us, happening all the time and we just don’t realise it. They slip into the mundane drudgery of the day to day and unless you truly live in the moment and are focused on something else, it’s easy to fail to acknowledge the little bits of joy that flood our lives. We don’t need to celebrate like a Premier League footballer in every little situation where we feel a ray of happiness creep in, yet we need to make sure that we feel a little bit of pleasure in the midst of the ordinary. Recognise that life is a gift and we need to appreciate the special things that define our life. Most importantly we should not hold back too much for the special moments that might not arrive.
A while ago I wrote about how that I had saved a Speyburn 18 sample for a special occasion, which was eventually drunk on the day that Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral took place, although the two weren’t connected, although it provided a perfect moment for reflection. The dram I am having today was also saved for a special occasion that should have been filled with joy, but sadly events took an unexpected turn and had now become more of a memorial. I wanted to share it with somebody who can no longer appreciate it, and while they were not a whisky fan, even if I couldn’t drink a dram with them, it would have been great just to share the experience of having a spirit that was distilled in the year that we were both born.
This dram isn’t what I’d class as unique but it is definitely not a common sight. A proper, bona fide original bottling of Balmenach. Not independently bottled, but a God’s honest release from the distillery owner. I had saved this for a special occasion, and I’m hoping it’s going to be worth it, although the geek in me knows that despite a larger age statement, the length of time it’s been sleeping in glass may mean time has not been kind to the spirit. Disappointment may be lurking around the corner, but you just never know. A spare cork is on standby just in case it suffers from a fatigued cork; after all, one must prepare for special occasions properly. As it happened, it turned out that the spare was required, so yet again remembering the 6 P’s I was taught as an avionics apprentice has come in handy. (Perfect Preparation Prevents P*ss Poor Performance).
This is not the only Highland Selection whisky released. Inver House Distillers released a few bottlings, but not from all their distilleries. Balmenach also had a 1972 28 year old released, albeit with no bottle numbers revealed. Balblair, An Cnoc and Speyburn also had a Highland Selection release. In common with Balmenach, Speyburn also had a 27y.o from 1973, alongside a 16y.o from 1986. I’ve never seen a Balblair Highland selection yet, but they had a 1974 vintage at 27 year old and a 1969 bottling at 31 years old. An Cnoc’s contributions to the tally were a 26 year old from 1975 and a 18y.o from 1983. The last Inver House distillery, Old Pulteneny doesn’t seem to have had a release in this range, which is strange, but perhaps it was felt Old Pulteney was a brand already well known.
The only other official bottle that Balmenach has released in recent times is relatively easy enough to obtain is the Diageo bottled Flora and Fauna 12 year old, although nowadays you’ll have to have deep pockets and longish arms if you want to be able to afford it, as at auctions these regularly see prices above £150, with a white cap one seeing a peak of around £400. Madness. I’m fortunate that two white cap bottles I have were bought long before the auction fever started and I paid considerably less for them. I remember when the pinnacle of the F&F range was supposed to be the Mortlach 16, but certainly I’ve noticed the Pittyvaich and Balmenach are now often trouncing the Mortlach in prices paid. I guess it may be due to the fact supplies of both will run out quicker with one distillery being demolished and the other never releasing other bottlings, therefore having perhaps more demand or collector appeal.
But why is Balmenach so hard to come by? It’s a long standing distillery, one of Speyside’s oldest having been established in 1824 by James MacGregor, though there is a history of illicit distilling on the site and surrounds. Yet it’s distillate is hard to come by, certainly that in original bottlings and it’s the only to be as such. Apparently it’s style of new make is prized by blenders, both in house and other companies. It’s a heavy, meaty spirit, being produced using small stills, worm tubs and long fermentations varying from 56 to 100 hrs. All the other Balmenach whisky I’ve tried has been very satisfactory, so let’s see if an original bottling is any different.
1973 Balmenach 27 y.o Highland Selection
Region – Speyside Age – 27 y.o Strength – 46% Colour – Amber (0.7) Cask Type – not stated Colouring – not stated Chill Filtered – not stated, but not likely at 46%.
Nose – Honey and raisin dominate to start with. Apricot, orange zest, grapes, hint of strawberry, like a breakfast fruit salad. Waxy apple. Also has a slightly vegetal note of dry grass. Milk chocolate, caramel, vanilla more present after water added. Raisin note deepened after being left in the glass.
Palate – whoa! The palate offers a different experience to that offered by the nose. The fruits become a lot more tropical, with banana, pineapple and apricot. Caramel, raisins, sultanas, spicy oak, but not too spicy. The spirit is there but slightly in the background. Slightly waxy mouthfeel.
Finish – the finish is medium and slightly astringent. Oak spices, ginger and Szechuan peppercorns. Black tea tannic finish, but not overly so.
I’ve waited years to try this. I’ve a few 1973 whiskies, some from silent distilleries, but I couldn’t justify their opening. I had a second bottle of this Balmenach, and felt that due to a slightly damaged label, this could be the one deserving of opening. Was it worth it? To be honest, I’m not so sure as events of the past month have somewhat coloured my view, and I am reading things into my experience of this dram that aren’t perhaps there. The experienced whisky drinker knows that it isn’t always your palate that affects your judgement of a whisky experience, but so does your location, what’s going on at the time and your mental state. The reason for opening it undoubtedly will cloud my judgement and while I’ve deliberately tried to focus on the liquid, I can’t guarantee that I’m not being biased.
The smell as I was decanted during the recovery from the failed cork was heavenly, and this nose I felt was going to mean I was going to get an immense whisky. It’s funny, as a lot of the aromas didn’t dominate in the palate, having a much more tropical taste with banana and pineapple there. While Balmenach does well in a sherry cask, I really think that this one is made up predominantly of ex Bourbon, with either sherry cask in the blending or finish. The result was that I can honestly say it wasn’t the best ever whisky I have tasted in my life, but it was definitely the best whisky for the moment, hitting the spot. I was delighted not to be disappointed at all in my choice, but was constantly wondering if this deserved the sobriquet of special?
For the other thing that was running through my mind was the use of the word special. Why had I labelled in my mind this bottle as special? It’s so subjective a term and just because something is special to you, doesn’t mean it becomes the same to everyone. And yet our community of producers, marketers, consumers and geeks revel in terms often misused to death when they describe things that often aren’t as described. Rare, Limited and Special are the three words that seem to have become tired tropes due to overuse. I’ll not start on the paradigm of how a whisky has to break the rules, rather I’ll be saving that rant for another day.
It’s in my time away from some corners of social media that I’ve had time to reflect a bit. I’ve dipped in and out and every time I return it’s the same old thing, or worse. Whiskies are championed, yet there doesn’t seem to be any baseline on why this is good or special. They aren’t rare, limited and special is open to opinion. Criticism seems to be non-existent, especially when it’s after a freebie mail drop. A recent one on Bourbon Day saw only positive comments. So, from a bystanders view that may not have a lot of experience, you’d think that this spirit is the best thing since sliced bread, but it won’t be. It’ll be a decent whiskey, but if there is no such thing as a bad whiskey, then it’s swimming in the pool of other “not bad whiskeys”, with nothing truly outstanding about it making it AVERAGE. With the amount of whisky on the market, that’s easily lost in the sea of average, therefore you can understand why there will be marketing campaigns, but all they seem to produce are nodding heads. Do yourself a favour; drop out of the scene for a while then poke a head back in. You’ll get what I mean.
And this brings me back to my initial comments that special moments are all around us, but in whisky we need to be discerning as to what is special. I hate to say it, but the uncomfortable truth is while many of the whiskies I try are perfectly enjoyable, hardly any are what I’d call special. The problem is that special is hard to quantify, whereas rare is slightly easier but still open to interpretation. After all, isn’t every single cask technically rare, as there won’t be much more than 1000 bottles made depending on final dilution? My Balmenach is only quantifiable as special to me as I pass the distillery regularly, original bottlings are as uncommon as flying pigs, had a decent age statement and was distilled on the year of my birth. At 46% it could have been better with less dilution at bottling, but this single malt is still a solid performer. Was it any better than an independent bottling? So far I have to say yes, but the closest age statement of IB I’ve had is 15 year old, so hard to really compare accurately, but this was my best Balmenach so far.
Plus, this is a vintage Balmenach that is only going to get rarer as time goes by. I think I was right to save it for a special occasion and that I chose the right occasion. In the end it turned out to be two never to be repeated special occasions. We’ll all do well to remember that often we have more whisky that is saved for special occasions than there will be special occasions left in our lives. Don’t let time a run out on you before you embrace the special occasions all around us and taste that special whisky.
In memory of my best friend, who died 3 days short of her 50th birthday and was three days older than me. Our mothers were in adjacent beds in the maternity ward where we were born. Rest easy J, and thanks for everything you did for me.
Yours In Spirits
Scotty
Photo Credits
All Photos – Authors Own
Scotty’s Drams 