On the banks of the river Tay, where salmon fishers stand in the water from first light, sits an old country house hotel with its own whisky on the shelf behind the bar. Ballathie House Hotel is not a distillery. It is a place that had a bottling made for itself, and that sort of bottle tends to be forgotten by everyone except the people who have been there.
The expert's description
Ballathie House Hotel 8 years is a Single Speyside Highland Malt Scotch Whisky matured in oak casks and bottled at 40 %.
The bottling was made by Inverarity, a Scottish whisky house that has been behind a number of hotel and house bottlings over the years. Ballathie House Hotel sits in Perthshire on the Tay, known for its salmon fishing, and the bottle was made as the house own, not as a commercial release for the wider market.
It belongs to that category of Scotch whisky which exists in limited quantity and rarely resurfaces once it is gone. Eight years in cask gives a young, clean malt profile where the character of the spirit itself still reads clearly through the oak.
Tasting notes
Nose
Young and clean. Barley, pale bread and peeled pear, with a single note of vanilla from the cask.
Palate
Light and malty with honey and a hint of lemon peel. The oak stays discreet and lets the barley do the talking the whole way.
Finish
Short and dry with a last malty warmth.
Specifications
Name: Ballathie House Hotel 8 år
Distillery: Ballathie
Bottler: Inverarity
Region/Country: Scotland
Type: Single Speyside Highland Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 8 years
ABV: 40 %
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Oak casks
Flavour profile
Light · Malty · Fresh · Soft · Dry
Investment potential
Medium. Hotel bottlings like this one are made in small quantities for a single venue and are rarely repeated. That makes them hard to track down again, and they hold a solid position with collectors of Scottish house bottlings.
Did you know?
Ballathie House was built in the 1850s as a country mansion and has been a hotel since 1971. Salmon fishing on the Tay remains the main draw, and the hotel holds its own beat on the river.
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