Ballantine's 12 Years Review


Country: Scotland
Brand: Ballantine’s
Type: Blended Whisky
Age: 12 Years
ABV: 40%
Chill-Filtration: Yes
Price Range: US$ 30-40 ( August 2018)
Buying Advice: 😐 Reasonable Blend with an okay P/Q ratio. Best over Ice!

Colour:

Golden Honey (Artificially Coloured)

Nose: 

Grain Alcohol, Toasted Grain, Butter Kekse (German Butter Biscuits), Caramel, Toffee, Vanilla, Dried Fruit, Honey, Nuts, Refill Wood, light Sherry, Marzipan and Lemon-Pepper. Sweet. A very faint hint of Smoke.    

Taste: 

Bitter-Sweet and Thin. I find Toasted Cereals, Grain Alcohol, Caramel, Toffee, Vanilla, Honey, Nuts, Dried Fruit, Herbs, Caffe Latte, Pepper, Nutmeg, Ginger, Refill Wood and a faint hint of Smoke. 

Finish:

On the Short side, Bitter-Sweet and a little Thin. I find Caramel, Toffee, Grain Alcohol, Vanilla, Honey, Dried Fruit, Nuts, Orange Peel, Refill Wood, Milk Chocolate, Pepper, Nutmeg, Ginger, Menthol and a very faint hint of Smoke. 


Rating: 79.5

Nose: 21 – Taste: 20.5 – Finish: 19 – Overall: 20

General Remarks:

The key Malt components of this Blend are Miltonduff and Glenburgie. 

Drinking Advice: 

I added a few drops of water and that takes away a good deal of the heat. But it also becomes really Thin. The best way to enjoy this Ballantine's is over Ice.

Drinking Experience On the Rocks: Good

Drinking Experience Neat: Just Okay.

Conclusion:

It's not bad and it's got a reasonable P/Q ratio. But it's not interesting enough to  sip neat. Better enjoy it over ice.

Jan van den Ende                                     August 5, 2011 and August 10, 2018

Glenburgie

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