We stay another day on the advent calendar with the next window, the third of the 2024 Boutique-y Advent Calendar, where we found a sample of Balmenach 15-year-old Batch 4 That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Balmenach remains a relatively rare encounter, as noted during the first review of this distillery here – also the only one before this. So it is independent bottlers that primarily bring Balmenach to wider attention, with all but a few expressions experienced here coming from these indies. Appreciation goes to the independent bottlers for enabling whisky enthusiasts to explore this distillery beyond its typical role in blends.
Balmenach 15-year-old Batch 4 That Boutique-y Whisky Company (2018) Review
That Boutique-y Whisky Company bottled Balmenach Batch 4 for the US market in the same 375 ml bottle used for last week’s Irish single malt. This 15-year-old matured until 2020 and was bottled at 49.3% ABV, likely reduced from cask strength, without chill filtration or added colour. Unfortunately, no details accompany the release regarding cask type, and it has since sold out.
Colour:
White wine.
Nose:
Neat: The nose evokes an orchard filled with a variety of fruits – peaches, apricots, pears, and red apples. Hints of mango mingle subtly, accompanied by a grassy note and very soft wood spices.
Palate:
Neat: The arrival balances fruity and spicy flavours, including apples, apricots, red grapes, and a touch of Granny Smith apple acidity. Pepper and chili add warmth, while the presence of oak spices and slight bitterness suggest virgin or active oak influence. Notes of chili-infused chocolate, bitter tea leaves, and a pleasant minerality emerge. The mouthfeel combines creaminess with a slight chalkiness. Additional citrus notes of orange and grapefruit also come through.
Finish:
The finish transforms the apple character into dry, farm-style cider, carrying a pleasing spicy warmth in the throat. Dark chocolate and a subtle hint of walnut oil round out the experience.
Comments:
Although the whisky hints at virgin or active wood influence and occasionally feels younger than its age, it delivers a fruity, lively, and slightly spicy character at a very approachable strength. Given its quality, it likely did not sell well enough to appear in Boutique-y’s 2024 Advent Calendar six years after bottling. Unless priced excessively (which is rarely the case with Boutique-y), I don’t understand why it didn’t sell enough for Drinks by the Dram to need to include this Balmenac.
Official Balmenach releases remain scarce despite the distillery’s distinctiveness. This Speyside distillery stands out as one of the few using worm tubs to condense alcohol vapour, lending character, like distilleries such as Mortlach, Springbank, and Craigellachie. Apart from a few editions of the Balmenach 12-year-old Flora & Fauna in the 1990s and some older releases in the early 2000s under Inver House’s Highland Selection – Limited Edition range, official bottlings are non-existent. Balmenach’s robust spirit finds high demand for blends, prompting its owner Inver House to allocate all of the production for blending purposes.