It’s been already two years since my last Balblair review (I was sure I did one last year, time flies!) and a few weeks since my last review (thanks to moving houses), so let’s have a look at the first three expressions from Balblair’s current core range with the Balblair 12-, 15- and 18-year-old.
A Welcomed Pause
Before diving into the heart of this review, I’d like to start with a short, personal reflection. As I mentioned in the introduction (and a few times on Instagram), I’ve been in the midst of moving houses. In my previous home, I was lucky enough to have a dedicated whisky room — nearly 25 meters of shelving (five meters wide and five layers high) displaying close to 300 bottles, not to mention hundreds of samples. Packing everything carefully took ages and required countless car trips to move it all to the new place, thankfully just 16 kilometers (10 miles) away. Still, for several weeks, all my whiskies (and cognacs) sat sealed in boxes — and at the time of writing, many of them still are, even though I officially moved ten days ago. With everything packed away, my spirits consumption naturally dropped, limited to a few nearly empty bottles I took the chance to finish off.
That lack of time — and of open bottles — inevitably affected my writing, hence the quiet spell on More Drams. Since early last year, I’ve managed to publish three posts a week without fail, except when unwell. But this pause turned out to be a welcome one. I’m a slow writer by nature: slow to craft tasting notes, to put my thoughts into (virtual) words, to polish the accompanying text, and to create the visuals — from the homepage image to social media posts.
A blog post that takes you five minutes to read often takes me three to five hours to produce. When you multiply that by three posts a week, it quickly becomes a demanding rhythm. So, being forced to scale back because of the move — with fewer bottles to taste and fewer topics to cover — gave me something rare: time. Of course, that time was immediately consumed by packing, moving, and settling in.
And just as I had finally finished unpacking my bottles and most of my samples, hay fever struck and left me unable to breathe properly through my nose, let alone nose a whisky as it should be. It also brought a couple of extra weeks of writing to a halt, because how can I write about whisky or cognac if I cannot smell or taste them with a functioning nose and palate?
But I can finally see the end of that stretch, at least enough to resume tasting sessions at home. Now that the move is complete, the boxes are unpacked, the furniture has been rebuilt, and my nose is back in working order, it is time to turn my attention once again to whisky — and other fine spirits.
Giving Another Chance
When Balblair replaced their signature vintage releases with standard age statements, I was, admittedly, bitterly disappointed. I actually first tasted this new core range back in 2019 during a trip to Balblair—a milestone for me, as it was my first ever visit to a Scotch whisky distillery. While there, I had the chance to chat with some of the veteran distillery workers about the shift. Reading between the lines, it was clear that many of them weren’t exactly thrilled either with this new direction mandated by ThaiBev, the distillery’s parent company. Those early tastings left me feeling the new lineup fell noticeably short of the stellar vintages they had ousted.
This frustration was only compounded by drastic price hikes. To put things in perspective: the superb 27-year-old 1991 (3rd release) used to retail for around €160, whereas the new 25-year-old launched at nearly €500—despite being two years younger.
Consequently, my buying habits shifted. I began focusing almost entirely on independent bottlings and hunting down older official vintages. I only made exceptions for a few recent official single casks, partly because they still proudly bear a vintage year, but mostly because they came highly recommended by trusted friends or I had tasted them myself and knew their worth.
However, I like to think I’m not narrow-minded, and sometimes you have to give things a second chance. Despite my grievances with the ‘corporate restructuring of their portfolio’ (sounds about right!), Balblair remains one of my all-time favourite distilleries; to this day, my collection holds well over twenty of their bottles, including about fifteen or so official releases, from vintages ranging from 1975 to 2006. It is time to set the past aside and approach this modern lineup with a clean palate and an open mind.
Balblair 12-year-old (2025) Review
The Balblair 12-year-old is fully matured in ex-bourbon and ‘double-fired’ American oak casks, before being bottled at 46% ABV. This entry to Balblair’s core range is unchill filtered and natural colour. A bottle usually costs around £50 in the UK, and €50 to €60 in Europe.
Colour:
Pale gold.
Nose:
Neat: Elegant bright lemon peel and lemon cheesecake notes sit over creamy vanilla, apple and pear. White grapes, apricots, honey, sponge cake and a touch of grass, warm hay and light farmyard funk add depth, with hints of rose petals and soft oak spice. There is also a light and unexpected salinity.
Palate:
Neat: Sweet, fruity and gently mineral: honey, oranges, dried orange slices and tart lemon, plus ripe apples, peaches and a little pineapple or melon. Vanilla cream, barley sugar and biscuit meet ground spices (ginger, nutmeg, light liquorice root) and a touch of dry oak and salinity.
Finish:
Medium, creamy and slightly drying, with vanilla, light leather, toasted hazelnut, biscuit and a gentle mix of pepper, orange zest and grapefruit‑like bitterness.
Comments:
Well, it turns out I was wrong, and I am more than happy to admit it. Far from being a disappointment, this Balblair 12-year-old is genuinely quite good. Giving it a second chance with fresh mind and palate was entirely the right call; it delivers a thoroughly enjoyable dram that serves as a solid, welcoming entry point into their modern core range.
Rating: 6.5/10
Balblair 15-year-old (2025) Review
Next, we have the Balblair 15-year-old. This single malt is matured in ex-bourbon casks first, before a 2 years finish in First fill Spanish Oak Butts. Like the 12-year-old, it is bottled at 46% ABV, without chill filtration nor added colour. A 700 ml bottle will cost you between €80 and €90 in Europe, and £75 in the UK.
Colour:
Russet.
Nose:
Neat: Leatherwood honey and spicy gingerbread lead, followed by juicy prunes, fresh lemon peel and purple grapes with candy berries. Dark chocolate, orange marmalade, poached pears and dried apricots add warmth, with floral violets, gooseberry and a touch of musty oak.
Palate:
Neat: Velvety and textured, featuring dark chocolate, tropical fruits (guava and hints of bananas), raisins and molasses bran muffin richness. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and red pepper jelly mingle with dried cherry, orange segments and creamy vanilla. Lots of malted barley as well, bringing some gristy sweetness.
Finish:
Long and mellow, with creamy vanilla, citrus zest, dark chocolate shavings and gentle oak dryness. Hints of almonds, maraschino cherries and woody spice linger warmly.
Comments:
On this one, the nose feels noticeably more restrained and the palate tips further into sweetness than the 12-year-old. While it remains a good whisky, I still favour the 12, which comes across as cleaner, brighter and more vibrant in character.
Rating: 6/10
Balblair 18-year-old (2025) Review
The last one for today is the Balblair 18-year-old. Like the 15-year-old, it first matured in ex-bourbon casks before a finish in first-fill Spanish oak butts (for an unknown duration, but most probably at least 2 years like the 15.). And like the 12- and the 15-year-old, it is bottled at 46% ABV, without chill filtration nor added colour. You will have to pay between €130 and €150 in Europe for a bottle, and around £125 in the UK.
Colour:
Dark tawny.
Nose:
Neat: Rich toffee and baked pears dominate, with elegant new leather, stewed apricots and warming chai spices. Floral dried fruits, milk chocolate, orange marmalade, gooseberry skin and poached pear add layers, alongside subtle coffee, pomegranate and toasted oak.
Palate:
Neat: Velvety and masterful, balancing juicy apricots, raisins, dark chocolate and vanilla custard with seasoned oak. Ripe summer fruits, dried cherry, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, ginger and creamy pastry mingle with heather honey and a touch of coffee’d tannin.
Finish:
Long and warming, with Christmassy spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), raisins, woody spice and gentle oak dryness. Heathery-mineral fade lingers with creamy vanilla and subtle earthiness.
Comments:
A rich, satisfying 18-year-old with a deeper sherry influence that feels more mature and less sweet than the 15. It is very well balanced, with the spice keeping everything in check. That said, I’d be curious to try the 21-year-old introduced in 2023, which was positioned to bridge the gap between this 18 and the 25…