Balblair 9 Years Old 2011 Cask #800129/2011 (Whisky Is The Limit)

Bottled by Whisky Is The Limit in 2020 as a 9 year old single cask release drawn from cask 800129/2011 of 2011 vintage Balblair with 298 bottles distributed to the Swiss market at cask strength of 56.3%. Whisky Is The Limit is an independent bottling project focused on small batch single cask Scotch releases at natural strength.

Distilled at Balblair distillery in Edderton, Easter Ross in the Northern Highlands, founded in 1790 by John Ross and owned by Inver House Distillers under ThaiBev since 1996. The wash is made from unpeated malted barley with soft Allt Dearg Burn water from the hills above Edderton, mashed in a stainless steel semi lauter mash tun and fermented for 48 to 62 hours in six closed wooden washbacks of Douglas fir and Oregon pine. Balblair runs the spirit through one wash and one spirit still of classic stumpy, flat top shape, both steam heated with shell and tube condensers, with new make collected at around 68% ABV. The spirit was filled into a single Oloroso sherry cask for 9 years of on site maturation.

Early stage maturation showed European oak Oloroso sherry chemistry. Ellagitannins and gallic acid from the European oak build dried walnut and grip, while oxidative aldehydes including acetaldehyde and syringaldehyde develop nutty, leathery rancio. Sotolon adds dried fig and curry leaf, with concentration of glycerol lending body, integrated with Balblair's Highland coastal character at 56.3%.