Balblair Single Cask 18 Years Old 1997

Bottled by the distillery in 2015 as a 18 year old single cask release drawn from cask 1152 of 1997 vintage Balblair with 186 bottles distributed to the Netherlands market at cask strength of 56.2%. This release was bottled by the distillery itself under Inver House Distillers ownership, the ThaiBev subsidiary running Balblair since 1996.

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 American oak and ex-Bourbon cask for 18 years of on site maturation.

Extended maturation drove layered cask character. American oak interaction built vanillin from lignin breakdown alongside cis and trans oak lactones, with vanilla, coconut, and char derived furfural. Combined cask exposure added additional Maillard caramelisation and ester development, integrated with Balblair's Highland coastal character at 56.2%.