Ballechin 10yo
Official bottling | 46% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Like a campfire in the woods in January, minus the rain and cold
Just harmless fun?
I tend to think of Dramface as a pet project created by a bunch of whisky nerds in a dusty and seldom trodden corner of the internet.
I mean, who really cares about what score an anonymous self-proclaimed whisky reviewer gave to an obscure independent bottler’s latest single cask release? What percentage of the population would take the time to read such a thing willingly?
Yet, it seems our impact is much more palpable than what I thought. Wally often updates us on the website traffic, with numbers that are increasingly hard to believe. Yet it was Archie’s recent Ardnahoe review that made me realise we can be more than just a review site.
Even when Wally periodically tells us about the steady increase in traffic and the impressive, or even intimidating number of daily visitors to Dramface, I kind of always thought that the traffic was overwhelmingly made of seasoned whisky geeks and I mean that as a good thing. That feeling is partly due to the fact that those of you who tend to comment under the reviews, thus the ones we writers directly engage with, are often familiar faces (or familiar avatars at least) who most likely will teach us as much as we ‘teach’ them. Keep those comments coming, they’re always appreciated.
But Archie’s words made me realise the numbers don’t add up. It’s not possible for all of this website’s traffic to be composed of only the geekiest of the geeks. Behind the familiar faces and regular commentators, whom we cherish dearly, there must be a multitude of people with vastly differing levels of knowledge and even varying levels of interest who are - either regularly or on occasion - visiting Dramface. Archie says in his review that he discovered us while in the early days of his whisky obsession:
‘[...] I discovered the online emporium of whisky wisdom that is Dramface. Logging countless hours on its search bar, its depository of anecdotes, stories, notes, comparisons, and comments, fed my obsession for all things Water of Life. This website, then only a couple of years old, with its backlog of write-ups was a veritable warehouse of whisky lore.’
The words “emporium of whisky wisdom” are probably a bit strong, but the fact that we were not only a catalogue of tasting notes and that we are actually able to steer people into whisky enjoyment and help them fuel their thirst of knowledge, feels wonderful. And frankly, humbling.
We are not alone in doing this. Every Instagram account, YouTube channel or personal tasting blog is part of the process. I personally discovered Dramface a bit later in my whisky journey, but before that, I was watching as many WhiskyTube channels as I could, and I read whiskyfun.com on an almost daily basis. The online whisky community is strong and far reaching.
There was a recent article by The Whiskey Wash listing the top 21 most visited whisky websites globally. We’re apparently seventh in the list; ahead of other websites I personally consider to be pillars of the whisky web. This is mental. It has never been the objective, as it is not a race to the top, and it is not an achievement in itself, but rather a proof that clearly what we collectively do here means something to at least a few thousand people.
With that can come a sense of responsibility, which I’ve never really felt while writing for Dramface. I of course have always tried to be thorough in my research and tasting notes so as to produce the best review and write-up possible, but not because I felt the virtual pressure of readers, rather because when I do something, I like to do it as well as I can. I’m serious about having fun, if you like.
I never would’ve imagined that sales could meaningly be influenced by scores and words from us mere enthusiasts. But they are. One of us in our writer’s chat mentioned that following Wally’s recent review of Woodrow’s Jane Street The Smoky One, virtual shelves were cleared in mere hours on the day. That is almost frightening when you think about it. I perhaps haven’t felt that before because I tend to lean towards independent or older bottlings and my reviews betray these buying habits and tastes. However, from time to time, I will review a more widely accessible whisky, just like today, and treat it every bit in the same way as any other.
Review
Ballechin 10yo, Edradour Distillery, batch 04/03/2022, ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso casks, natural colour, non chill filtered, 46% ABV
£45-50 and widely available
I chose this bottle as one such widely available and decently priced example. But also because I was reminded of Edradour’s existence due to them celebrating their 200th anniversary, upping their unpeated 10yo to 46% and also after Andrew Symington’s appearance on a recent Aqvavitae vPub.
I then recalled that I had a bottle of Ballechin 10 lying around in the cabinet, almost untouched. It was given to me by my pal Damian just before the summer break last year, as explained in my Amrut review.
I think it makes sense to review it now.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Like a campfire in the woods in January, minus the rain and cold
Nose
Oily forest peat, smoked almonds. Grisons meat (smoked beef). Campfire in a damp forest. Sweet peat. Savoury. Smoked greens and smoked coffee beans. Smoked everything. Moss. Gas station fumes.
With water: A bit more industrial now; grease, oily rags, cold embers. Toolbox. A hint of menthol, maybe in the form of verbena.
Palate
Thick, oily and intensely flavourful. Syrupy smoke. Dark honey and smoked cashews. Practically liquid smoke.
With water: It retains oiliness quite impressively. Bitter herbs. Coal smoke. Spices appear on the finish, black pepper maybe. Smoked cocoa butter.
The Dregs
The complexity you get from a core range peater at 10yo and 46% is impressive I must say. I was expecting to award it a 6/10, but I feel it edges past the 7/10 mark. I like that it has a strong identity as a peated malt and it’s not trying to be Lagavulin or Caol Ila; those worm tubs must work their magic for that texture to be carried through various stages of dilution. A really great, somewhat under the radar, peaty daily sipper.
To conclude all of this: Thank you. Thank you for reading this website, be it on occasion, religiously everyday, or anything in between. As I said, having such a readership is somewhat humbling, but on the other hand, it feels bloody good. I think I speak for every single writer in the team when I say we do everything we can to stick to our standards of transparency and freedom of opinion, and that we will keep doing what we do. Having every one of you read our ramblings is fantastic.
As a quick sidenote, if you could comment when in your whisky epiphany you did discover Dramface, that would be very interesting.
Cheers to all, whether you’re a whisky youngling or were already granted the rank of master, I’m glad you’re here.
To pair with today’s review, let’s listen to To Ease You, released this year by Men I Trust.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AF
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Other opinions on this:
Whiskybase
Whiskyfun (2014 bottling)
88Bamboo
A Scot on Scotch
The Dramble
Scotchology
Gwhisky
Ralfy
Just Whisky
Erik Wait Whisky Studies
Whisky.com
Whisky Whereabouts
Whisky Vault
That should be enough for you? No?
Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.
