Old Ballantruan: peated Tomintoul might yet surprise!
What do we think of peated whisky made at places that are not normally known for peated whisky? For me, I sometimes like the variation. I think Benromach makes a tremendous peated malt, but some sherry matured expressions made quite the conversation a few years ago. I even managed to buy someone’s open bottle, because he thought it was dreadful. I drank it with pleasure. Today, we taste Old Ballantruan, which is the name the Tomintoul Distillery gives to their peated offspring. It has been around for quite some time, and I do remember owning a bottle of it when it first came out in 2005. The age stated expression I actually never tried, or if I did, it was not memorable enough for me to remember. We taste the latest version we could find, curious to make a new discovery. Peated Speyside whisky, does that even compute?
Old Ballantruan 10 years old, bottled at 50 % abv
First things first: Made at Tomintoul Distillery, called The Peated Malt. No information on the casks used for this creation. We will have to guess. But! No chill-filtration!
Upon Sipping: The peat is very pronounced on the foreground, but at the same time not shouting. It is a beautiful, vegetal (not maritime/medicinal) smoke that enters the nose, and it brings in its wake the sweetness of the Speyside-Glenlivet region, where Tomintoul nestles. Hints of coffee and chocolate round up the impressions. Taking a sip, I am delighted by the milky chocolate tastes mixed with the sweetness one would expect in regular Tomintoul. But don’t get me wrong, this is not a whisky that puts layer on layer, full integration here. The finish carries a lot of punch, probably because the producer decided to go for a good abv. The whisky is very deserving of that, and delivers in spades on the peaty promise. Beautiful dry smoke on the exit, soft wood notes, some brine eventually, but it remains very tied to mainland Speyside. We are not far off from some of the better Wolfburn expressions I recently tried. With water, the taste becomes a tad too bitter for me, and the smoke loses some impact. This bottling comes as balanced as it is. Drink it neat.
Word to the Wise: Will mainland peat remain a niche? Perhaps. But this Old Ballantruan is an asset to the offerings that are there. I would highly recommend you to get yourself a bottle.
Score: 86 points.