Last Wednesday, we tasted an old Ballantine’s 17 yo… So we felt it was about time to taste a modern Ballantine’s too. The current 17 yo would have been the perfect sparring partner, but we only have the entry level, the Finest: a NAS bottled at 40% ABV.

N: the alcoholic note is really too strong, despite the low ABV. It’s opened and aromatic, but it definetely lacks personality. We try to list what we can smell in the glass: an abstract sugary note, a strong hint of pear, a distinct cereal aroma (grain or malt), reminding us new make and porridge. Candied ginger and citrus fruits. That’s it. With time, it breaks down and loses intensity.

P: pear and cereal, again… It’s really easy drinking, probably even too much. The alcoholic note on the nose disappears, but the profile is furtherly poorer. A sweet and sugary sensation (is it honey? Or caramel?), with a hint of fresh flowers. The palate is “darker” than the nose. Not particularly intense, everything fades fast…

F: …in a short and clean finish. Cereal and pear, again.

Let’s not mess about: the second world’s best-selling blended whisky is simple, young and it’s not made for being sipped in an analytic tasting. We must admit that during our grunge youth we used to drink it in car parks, straight from the bottle or, when we really felt classy, from the screw cap: and that’s the perfect dimension for it. Anyway, it’s not unpleasant. In those car parks, we enjoyed it. But no more than 70/100.

Sottofondo musicale consigliato: Dogo Gang – Italia 90.