The second dram behind the closed door of the Cask Explorers Ruby Edition advent calendar is an 18-year-old bottling of Balblair. I take some time to find the perfect pairing from my personal collection and land on a non-age statement from Glenfarclas, bottled for their 185th anniversary. I could have picked another 18-year-old from the Highland region, but my open bottles are slightly older and at a higher ABV. I know that Glenfarclas is supposed to be more sherried than the Balblair, so I’ll consider that during this pairing. I was initially going to compare it against a Glenrothes, but my bottle is a 23-year-old cask-strength Scotch. And so Glenfarclas it is. Deal? Let’s get to it, but first, we need music! Now playing: Joachim Spieth – Terrain.

As I mentioned above, the Balblair 18-year-old is a Highland single malt, spending most of its time in ex-bourbon casks and then finished in first-fill Spanish oak butts. I’m assuming the latter contained some sherry (but we cannot be sure which kind). Butts hold an equivalent of four barrels or two hogsheads (500L), so the ratio of liquid to surface area contact is small. This means that there is less interaction with the wood resulting in slow flavour development. It is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered, and with no added colouring – this is what some refer to as integrity bottling, and I concur. It’s a nice golden colour, and there are stewed fruits, apricots, pears and apples on the nose. I have to say, the scent is pretty similar to that of Glenfarclas [which I have ready in another glass]. The latter may have more orange and less peach, but generally, both bring forward those festive spices which originate from a sherried dram. Let’s go in for the taste. Yes, this is lovely. Slightly sweet in all the right places, not overpowering, with Christmas cake tenderness and an earthy finish which threatens to disappear fast, but stays for a long time at a much lower volume. Let’s switch to the second dram and see how it goes. Glenfarclas is immediately thinner, woodsier, and drier on the palate. It has a much shorter-lived finish and is much less of a sherry bomb than I initially anticipated. Perhaps I’ve picked the proper single malt to pair the Balblair with, after all! Albeit a non-age statement (NAS), the Glenfarclas is also bottled at 46% ABV, but I do not think that it’s an integrity bottling, as there is no mention of colouring or chill filtration process anywhere on the label [Update: I have confirmed that it is indeed non-chill filtered and un-coloured – so it gets my integrity bottling thumbs up!]

After my palate has settled down a bit, I take another whiff. The Glenfarclas is just a tad sweeter on the nose, while the Balblair is a bit fruitier. I’ll take a sip of water and go in reverse now. The Glenfarclas goes down easy, and what a lovely dram it is! Beautiful, satin caress of that dried fruit again, perfectly balanced in sweetness and spice. The Balblair retorts – it’s smoother and rounder, oilier still. There is that finish that won’t go away, and it just lingers for ages reminding me of its pleasantness. Neither single malt is overpowering me with the sherry, and that’s a good thing right now. The Balblair has a bit of that ex-bourbon profile, more vanilla than toffee, which is perfectly married with its second maturation in the first-fill Spanish oak. The Glenfarclas is attempting to keep up here, but I’ll admit, it just feels a little bit diluted – perhaps there are younger whiskies in here (for sure!). The Glenfarclas 185th Anniversary single malt is a genuinely excellent expression, bringing together all of those elements of sweetness, spiciness, and fruitiness in its profile… but next to the Balblair, it just falls a bit short. And I think it has to do with the age and the vatting, which basically just lacks a bit of the substance. I wish I had the Glenfarclas 18-year-old to compare this to. Alas, there is the [absolutely fantastic for the price point] 15-year-old, and then the 25-year-old, sold at £215, which would not compare to the Balblair (did that rhyme?). While we’re here, let’s mention that the Balblair 18-year-old goes for about £127 in my neck of the woods, while the Glenfarclas 185th is only a few quid less, sold for £120.

Distillery / Region	Balblair / Highlands	Glenfarclas / Speyside
Producer	Inver House Distillers	J.&G. Grant
Bottler / Series	Distillery bottling / core range	Distillery bottling / special edition of 6000
Stated Age / Vintage	18 years old	NAS
Cask type	ex-bourbon casks + first-fill Spanish oak butts	“sherry and others”
ABV / Cask Strength	46% / No	46% / No
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟	Yes / Yes 🌟
Price	£127	£120

Well, there you have it, folks. An interesting side-by-side tasting of two single malts, which come very close in tasting profile to each other. Again, on their own, they are both fantastic! But this is why I always enjoy tasting them side-by-side. Alas, one of them stands out just a notch, and those extra few pounds in the price point are definitely well worth it. With that said, I will proclaim the Balblair 18-year-old as the winner of this round and tip my hat to Cask Explorers for introducing me to this single malt.