Product description
Ballantine's Whisky, the creation of Edinburgh grocer George Ballantine, debuted in 1869.
The family produced it until 1922, when they sold the rights to the brand to James Barclay and RA McKinley, who made a fortune selling Ballantine to Americans suffering from prohibition, and also made it a global brand. Hiram Walker & Sons, owner of the Miltonduff and Glenburgie distilleries, took it over in 1937, and since 2005 Ballantine's has been in the portfolio of Chivas Bros., a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. Ballantine 17 years old debuted in 1937, and to this day blenders consider the 17-year-old version to be the best blended Ballantine. In our opinion, the bottle presented here comes from the turn of the century.
Nose: rich, honey, toffee, coffee beans, roasted nuts, dried plums, nutmeg, a touch of pepper, traces of leather, oak and peat.
Taste: well balanced, toffee, honey, roasted nuts and almonds, crème brûlée, dark chocolate, dried fruit, nutmeg and a trace of peat.
Finish: quite long, with notes of honey, chocolate, a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon, oak and to a lesser extent peat.