A while back Mike passed some samples on to me from Master of Malt. Due to house moves, bereavements, and a catalogue of other matters they were put aside for a while intending that we taste them together, but as our respective calendars have left little time for such events I felt it was time we reported on them so I’ve started the sampling myself. They’re quite a varied selection in age, type and quality, so I’ll take them one by one, starting with one that I’d always wanted to try but had never seen in any of the bars or whisky shops that I’d explored.

The reason for my desire to try it is connected to the post I made a couple of months ago -

Seeing Whisky from a different age – where Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart described in his book his family connections to the Balmenach distillery and his great love for its taste. Now as anyone who has followed my posts will know I should probably have tried it 30 years ago when my tastes where more attuned to the smoother Speyside malts, but in those days it was rare to come across large collections of single malts of any kinds and for a long time Balmenach was either mothballed or its production went for blending, so it was a rare find.

Balmenach

Duncan & Taylor, 10 Year Old, 46%

Colour

Very light lemon-yellow

Nose

Curiously little of note to begin with, but then I’m used to strong west coast beginnings. Spirity but without being harsh. Later there’s a suggestion of apples.

Taste

Initial Taste
Very light, honey, lemon. Front of the tongue.

Later taste
Some light toffee notes, maybe a hint of smoked tea. Normally there would be a list of flavour impressions here but the word that kept coming to me while drinking this was “purity”.

Finish

Short though certainly not unpleasant and pretty much in keeping with the rest of the taste.

I didn’t try water with this as I suspect it would have swamped it.

Conclusion

Probably the lightest single malt I can remember tasting. Definitely not one for the people who like massively complex tastes, peat, smoke or saltiness; but strangely enough, although the above is a good description of my own normal tastes, I rather liked this. I could imagine drinking it with light and subtle food such as fish cooked in the Swiss style, as an alternative to wine. It struck me as a Speyside version of the sort of ideas that they have at Bruichladdich.

That said I think I’d like to try it after a few more years maturing and maybe a touch stronger to see how the flavours develop. But if I’m ever up Speyside way I’ll keep an eye out for more examples of their output.