The key ingredients in the Ballantines blends are Miltonduff and Glenburgie as well as whisky from around fifty other distilleries. This is their 12 year old.
Fruit salad and sherry, mixed nuts.
Rather creamy. Mochaccino and buttery pastry, spice.
Gentle, spice and fruitcake.
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For its price is very good
Was previously a big fan of just the standard Ballantine's Finest and found myself very impressed by it. Decided I'm a fan of the brand, and bought this bottle just recently. It's definitely good. It's very easy to drink and great on the nose (smoky oak, creamy). It tastes of heavy creaminess, and a little fruitiness. But this is where it begins to fall a little short. For me, I feel this doesn't have very booming flavors. They're extremely light and just a little unsatisfying, like they're quite distant and don't really fill the mouth like other drops. Probably the most notable issue is the shortness of the finish. This fades very fast, like you almost have to hurry and think about what you're tasting. I see a lot of people saying it's better than Chivas 12, but sadly I'll have to disagree. I believe it's similar to Chivas 12 with the creaminess, but it's more unsatisfying simply due to the distant flavors and short finish. A great drop and very tasty for what you get, however, when I buy Ballantine's again, it'll just be the Finest for me.
It's quite easy to drink and easy to like, perfect for everyday drinking or for guests, for the price range it is incredibly smooth and with a great, oily mouthfeel, it is quite tasty and decently complex but it doesn't overwhelm the drinker. It clearly outclasses Chivas 12, and the choice between this and Jw Black is completely up to whether you want smoky or fruity and smooth.
O la la!
I bought my first bottle of this today, JW Black has been my go to whisky for a long time and I wanted to try something else in similar price range. I was impressed how smooth this whisky is, no harsh notes and the richness of the flavours is there.
