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The Inverarity Ancestral Pure Speyside Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 14 yo, 750ml, 80 proof, standard bottle, no additional packaging, about $50-60, very limited US availability.
The Inverarity Ancestral 14 yo is an independent bottling of Balmenach and was a Gold Medal at IWSC (International Whisky Spirits Challenge) 1999.
In 1986 Balmenach was sold to United Distillers who closed the distillery in May 1993. Eventually, Balmenach was bought from Diageo by Inver House Distillers in 1997. Inver House didn't start distilling immediately after acquiring the distillery as they had to check the entire production plant before they resumed production again in March 1998. In 2004 Balmenach produced just under 2 million litres of alcohol. When Inver House bought the distillery from Diageo they did not get the maturing stocks, so the oldest whisky they had around the year 2004 was about 6yo which probably means a new 'OB' won't be released until circa 2010. Anything older, such as this bottle, is from the old stocks Dieago kept and sells from time to time. There was an "official" bottling under the Flora and Fauna range and the Rare Malts series but they were sold out long ago. Today, production goes into the Inver House blends and untill the mid 1990's was also used in Johnnie Walker products.
Did a little yard work and came in to enjoy a dram of the Inverarity Ancestral. As it says on the label it is aged entirely in sherry casks and they aren't kidding. This is a sherry monster! They had to use first fill sherry casks to get that much color and flavor in the whisky. Inverarity says that it is a topaz color in the bottle and I can't come up with a better descriptor so I'll go with that. In the glass it lightens up a shade but is still a nice darker then usual color.
The nose is, of course, sherry followed by malt, nuts and raisins all in a very smooth blend. Tasting is smooth at first with the sherry, spices and oak and then some dying on the tongue. The finish is long and flavorful, much more then Macallan 12 for example. It is mostly 2 dimensional with sherry and spices but some malt does show up at the end. Overall better then I wrote. This is an easy drinker that one could put away far more then usual with no problem. If you are a fan of sherried malts you need to find a bottle of this :thumbs:
The Inverarity Ancestral 14 yo is an independent bottling of Balmenach and was a Gold Medal at IWSC (International Whisky Spirits Challenge) 1999.
In 1986 Balmenach was sold to United Distillers who closed the distillery in May 1993. Eventually, Balmenach was bought from Diageo by Inver House Distillers in 1997. Inver House didn't start distilling immediately after acquiring the distillery as they had to check the entire production plant before they resumed production again in March 1998. In 2004 Balmenach produced just under 2 million litres of alcohol. When Inver House bought the distillery from Diageo they did not get the maturing stocks, so the oldest whisky they had around the year 2004 was about 6yo which probably means a new 'OB' won't be released until circa 2010. Anything older, such as this bottle, is from the old stocks Dieago kept and sells from time to time. There was an "official" bottling under the Flora and Fauna range and the Rare Malts series but they were sold out long ago. Today, production goes into the Inver House blends and untill the mid 1990's was also used in Johnnie Walker products.
Did a little yard work and came in to enjoy a dram of the Inverarity Ancestral. As it says on the label it is aged entirely in sherry casks and they aren't kidding. This is a sherry monster! They had to use first fill sherry casks to get that much color and flavor in the whisky. Inverarity says that it is a topaz color in the bottle and I can't come up with a better descriptor so I'll go with that. In the glass it lightens up a shade but is still a nice darker then usual color.
The nose is, of course, sherry followed by malt, nuts and raisins all in a very smooth blend. Tasting is smooth at first with the sherry, spices and oak and then some dying on the tongue. The finish is long and flavorful, much more then Macallan 12 for example. It is mostly 2 dimensional with sherry and spices but some malt does show up at the end. Overall better then I wrote. This is an easy drinker that one could put away far more then usual with no problem. If you are a fan of sherried malts you need to find a bottle of this :thumbs:
