Ballantine's Barrel Smooth / 40% / 1.0l
- After successful launch of Hard Fired in the late 2015 Ballantine’s keeps adding new expressions to its line-up.
Product description
After the success of Hard Fired (debuted in late 2015), Ballantine's followed up with the Barrel Smooth edition.
Both are creations of Sandy Hyslop, Ballantine's master blender, who is constantly looking for new versions of this popular blend. While the idea of Hard Fired was to empty the barrel of whiskey for no longer than a day (to prevent the staves from drying out), burn its interior hard and then fill it with the same whiskey, in the case of Barrel Smooth, the finished blend spends additional time in double-charred American oak barrels. Ballantine's has been the second most popular Scotch whiskey (after Johnnie Walker) for years, closing 2020 with sales of 7 million cases.
Nose: charred oak, vanilla, caramel, honey, burnt toast, licorice, a pinch of cinnamon, baked apples and a hint of smoke in the background.
Palate : sweet cereal, caramel, vanilla, toffee, ginger, cinnamon, licorice, apples, cherries, charred oak and a little smoke.
Finish: medium long, with notes of camping fire, caramel, vanilla, a pinch of pepper and ginger.