The fourth in a row of the Bladnoch Forum Bottle-Share! Balmenach is a rather unknown Speyside distillery of which only a Flora & Fauna release is available. Even independent bottles are hard to find. As far as I know they have recently fired the stills again after being mothballed in 1997.

Nose:
It takes some time for the whisky to really start working. At first I barely got any scents at all, but after a few minutes it came loose. I found it quite nutty with very distinguishable European oak tones. Hazelnut and caramel were the most prominent.

Taste:
Quite fierce with a lot of wood. However, the wood never overpowers the other flavours. Caramel, just a little bitter. I also got grilled banana. How that popped up in my mind, I don’t know.

Finish:
The finish is a little stale, but quite smooth. Soft caramel fudge and toffee.

Quite some nice flavours in this one, but its a little bit one-dimensional. The banana I tasted was a nice surprise but other than that its mostly caramel, toffee and fudge. Nice, although I’d like something more to find.

Balmenach 26, Bladnoch Forum, 14-9-1983 – 12-06-2010, 52.8%, available at the Bladnoch website and distillery.

Nose: 5
Taste: 7
Finish: 5
Overal experience: 6
Price/quality: +1

Total: 24 points