Whisky Craft Balblair 18 Year Old

Key Facts About This Single Malt Scotch

Bottler: Whisky Craft

Founders: Sonny Charles

Distillery: Balblair

Age: 18 years old

Bottled: 2026

Region: Highlands, Scotland

Spirit: Single malt scotch

Cask Type: Marsala finish

Alcohol by Volume: Cask strength, 54.1%

Bottled: Natural colour and without chill filtration

Outturn: 254 bottles

Bottle Size: 700ml

Balblair 18 Year Old Tasting Notes

Nose: Bright and lifted at first, with citrus zest, orange peel and a gentle waxy sweetness. There’s a savoury, meaty note underneath, followed by sweet spice, star anise and soft toffee.

Palate: Immediately sweet, almost pure cane sugar on the front of the tongue. Light red fruits open first, before deepening into darker berries and richer Marsala-driven impact. An unusual and very enjoyable balance of sweetness, spice and savoury.

Finish: A touch of char and cracked pepper appears at the end. The finish evaporates quickly, but leaves a lingering sweetness at the back of the tongue. Unique and distinctive.

About this Whisky Craft release

This Balblair 18 Year Old from Whisky Craft, founded by Sonny Charles, is a distinctive Highland single malt that pairs Balblair’s elegant, fruit-forward spirit with the rich, savoury complexity of a Marsala wine cask finish.

Bottled in 2026 after 18 years of maturation, this release explores one of whisky’s less common finishing casks. Marsala, the famous fortified wine from Sicily, is capable of imparting layers of dried fruit, caramelised sweetness, warming spice, and subtle savoury notes. Rather than overwhelming the whisky, the finish works in harmony with Balblair’s naturally refined spirit, creating a dram that is both unusual and remarkably balanced.

Produced by Balblair Distillery, the spirit is known for its bright orchard fruits, citrus, and honeyed elegance. The Marsala cask introduces darker fruit, richer sweetness, and a gentle savoury edge, adding another dimension without masking the distillery's identity.

The nose opens with citrus zest and orange peel, supported by a delicate waxy sweetness. As the whisky develops, savoury meaty notes emerge alongside soft toffee, star anise, and warming spice, creating an intriguing balance between freshness and richness. The palate is immediately sweet, with an almost cane sugar-like intensity before evolving into layers of red berries, darker fruits, and the distinctive influence of the Marsala cask. Throughout, sweet, savoury, and spicy elements weave together in a way that feels both unusual and highly enjoyable.

The finish introduces gentle char and cracked black pepper before fading relatively quickly, leaving behind a lingering sweetness that invites another sip.

Bottled at cask strength (54.1% ABV), with natural colour and without chill filtration, this whisky offers excellent texture while allowing the unusual cask influence to remain beautifully integrated. With an outturn of 254 bottles, it is a limited release that demonstrates how thoughtfully chosen wine casks can create genuinely distinctive whisky.

A unique Highland malt where citrus freshness, Marsala richness, and savoury complexity combine to create a memorable and highly individual dram.