As a member of The W Club’s Tasting Panel I recently reviewed Ballantine’s 17 Year Old Blended Scotch… Click to read more!

So here’s my mini review for The W Club…

Medium golden colour. The nose is light, fresh and vibrant; you may think it’s young, but the lack of alcohol / spirity kick gives away the age and maturity as something eminently more grown up with a youthful twist. It also gives away the 43% ABV; better than 40% that’s true, but being less than 46% might indicate it’s got some chill-filtered spirit within? Certainly a drop of water doesn’t show any cloudiness. The nose shows a good oak influence that seems in balance with the rest of the fruity, vanillary notes; a mix of cask types here with some American influence it would appear. On the palate it is smooth and creamy with a pleasant fizz on the mid tongue at first, lightly oily. On first sample I’d have sworn there were north eastern highland notes here, a touch of sea salt, but those notes are soon tempered with more floral honey notes and a distinct smoky background hanging around at the end. The finish is pleasant, warming and long. A very enjoyable dram that represents good value for money… Not my whisky of the year, but a very nice bottle to buy for your dad who loves whisky.