Decadent Drinks/whisky sponge has bottled a trio of Ballechin smoky whiskies recently (they call it The Spongetopia Trilogy) and this one of them (the other two will be reviewed later) : this one’s a 2005 15 year old Ballechin, matured full term in a second fill sherry hogshead with an outturn of 266 bottles at a natural cask strength of 57.3%.
I’ve grown quite fond of Ballechin in recent years, with a few stunning sherried examples such as the TWE 15-year-old single cask I reviewed a couple of years back. They can be awesome, and I am expecting a lot of this one too 😉
Ballechin 2005 whisky sponge edition no.36c , 57.3% abv , £ 137 (sold out)
Nose: This one’s Dark N’ dirty filled with earth, dark and smoky tea leaves, cigar cabinets, ad earthy peat, soot, and coal, the sherry is also quite noticeable with thick, sweet, sticky syrupy notes, Lots of overripe black cherries, and figs, meats marinated in sweet juices, spent matches and hints of sulfur – this 2n fill sherry cask did a lovely job!
Palate: Loads of chili and black pepper on the entry, with intense heat – this is huge! when the heat subsides the sweet and smoky notes kick in, with sweet smoke, cough syrup, dark fruit, and dried prune juice, lapsang tea leaves, and quite some wine tannins and sweet sherry wines, more wood spices and toasted oak wood with earthen floors and sooty notes come into the picture. even some chocolate… Dark stuff, but yummy.
Finish: peppermint, black tea, bitter oak, chilly, chocolate, smoke, lots of smoke, peat embers.
Conclusion:
A rather spicy and dark example, with the sherry and smoke playing nicely together. The black tea and sweet sherry notes with chocolate and chillis make for a complex, yet highly drinkable Ballechin. No wonder this sold-out nicely. Too bad this is sold out now. But you can still get a sister cask (B) if you wish here.