We could tell straight away this was a heavier and oilier type of distillate. Lots of initial aromas of rapeseed oils, mechanical tool box rags, hessian cloth, olive oil and liquorice. Some dark fruit beers, black tea, red apple skins and dried cranberry. Water brought hints of wine must, lemon cough drops, myrtle, hawthorne and mustard power warmth. The palate maintained this sense of weight with notes of chopped dates, cinder toffee, aniseed sweets and heather honey cake. Also putty and waxiness. Water brought an elegant leathery note, along with plum wine, fir wood resins and more aniseed notes that included liquorice and some herbal liqueurs. Matured for 13 years in a bourbon hogshead before being transferred to a 1st fill American oak oloroso sherry hogshead.
About Balmenach
Situated in the district of Cromdale on the banks of the River Spey the distillery stands in beneath the nearby hill of Tom Lethendry where the Jacobites were defeated in the Battle of Cromdale in 1690.
Balmenach Distillery is one of the earliest distilleries sanctioned as a result of the Excise Act 1823. In 1897 the distillery was purchased by Glenlivet and was served by its own railway branch off the Strathspey Railway until 1969. The distillery closed in 1941 and re-opened in 1947, following expansion of its facilities.
The Distillery is owned by Inver House Distillers Limited, a privately owned distiller whose other distilleries include: Speyburn-Glenlivet Distillery; Knockdhu Distillery; Balblair Distillery; and, Old Pulteney Distillery.
