A Trio of Balblair,
The Dauntless
Northern Highlander

Almost two weeks without a single post, looks like I've returned to my bad habits,  though in my defense I've been quite busy with work.
If I don't find the time to properly enjoy a dram or two and write some notes down, I'll usually just go for an easy sipper like Dalmore 12, Jura Prophecy, Glenfarclas 105 or my old and trusty companion the Lagavulin 16.

Therefore many bottles/samples remained unopened: stashed away for future enjoyment.

So I still got a few exciting posts coming up: some rare, some lost and some low profile distilleries will get their chance in the spotlight.

Though I may already have confessed my love for Balblair here before, I owe it to the good people of Balblair, who provided me with these samples for a twitter tasting, that I add my tasting notes to this blog.

Glentauchers 1990 Gordon & MacPhail

First time, definitely last time

http://www.scotchwhisky.net/images/dist/gltch_dist.jpg

There are mediocre whiskies, there are bad whiskies...

Unfortunately we ventured back into the bad territory, with a whisky that for the time being has the dubious honour of being the penultimate single malt whisky on my list.
Only second to the Drumguish of the Speyside distillery, a harsh verdict indeed.

One could wonder why Glentauchers, being one of the most productive Scottish distilleries with a production of 4.5 million l/year and one of the main ingredients of  Pernod Ricard blends, has such a terrible reputation.

Well let's just dive in and ind out why I granted this poor score to this whisky.

Old Pulteney 1990/2004 Blackadder Raw Cask

The Shape Shifter

Incidentally while I tastes this dram, the 2013 album of Swedish metal band Amon Amarth: The Deceiver of the Gods was playing on my stereo.

One particular song that came up, in my eyes perfectly captured the spirit of this whisky: The Shape Shifter, a song about the Nordic god Loki, the god of mischief. (no not the marvel version) with the power to change his form, be it a man or an animal.   

For legal reasons I did not refer to this whisky in my title as "Loki", as not to unleash Ragnarök from the people of Highland Park upon myself ;)

Time Capsule

Preserving a bottle for the future

http://www.thedrinkingmansguidetoscotland.com/balblair-distillery.html

For quite some time I have been playing with the idea  of buying a bottle of whisky, with the same age as myself. By that I mean, a whisky distilled in the same year as I was born.

I got a few other bottles, that I keep aside for special occasions or just to drink later. But I destined this one to be for the ages. Something I'll keep in the cabinet for the next 50 years or so.