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Tart fruits tantalised our noses – gooseberry fool, lemon drops, waxed orange, redcurrant jam, marshmallow twists and popping candy – with traces of pink peppercorns and pencils; generally clean and attractive. The palate enjoyed blackcurrant fruit pastilles, lime marmalade and fruits of the forest, but was far from one dimensional – we also tasted honeysuckle, sweet birch sap, custard bao buns and ginger. The reduced nose was like being served lemon-scented sweets, sticky toffee pavlova, and gin and tonic in a florist's. On the palate we got freeze-dried strawberries and lemon meringue pie, crème brûlée and caramelised white chocolate – citric, sweet and tormentingly temptatious.
About Balmenach
The fermentation is long, the stills relatively small and run quickly, and the vapour runs into worm tubs, rather than shell and tube condensers. This helps to produce a slow-maturing new make character which is rich and meaty, ideal for adding weight and grunt to blends, and also to be a good match with ex-Sherry casks.
Inver House has no plans to release this highly distinctive whisky as a single malt. The reason for this is that the make – whose style is unusual these days – is too highly-prized as fillings for blends, both by Inver House and other firms.
This is an old distillery. James MacGregor took out his licence in 1824 on what was a farm after a period of illicit production. According to Robert Bruce Lockhart, this took place soon after MacGregor had received a visit from a local gauger. When asked what a specific farm building contained, he said it was simply a peat shed. “Well, I suggest you take out a licence for it,” replied the gauger. Bruce Lockhart was related to the MacGregors and his highly recommended book, Scotch, contains many fascinating details about old-style distillation as practised in Cromdale.
The distillery eventually passed into the hands of Scotch Malt Distillers, DCL’s malt production arm, which expanded the plant to include a Saladin maltings. It was briefly mothballed between 1993 and 1997, when it was sold to current owner, Inver House, which also produces Caorunn Gin here.