Boozelog XIX – Bolanachi ‘Highlands whisky red’
I sort of picked this up on a whim with the intention of making whisky sauce to go with chicken. Haven’t done that yet but I’m on my second bottle of the stuff. Egyptian whisky doesn’t have a great rep, but you really can’t argue for the price: about £2.50 for 750ml. Instructively I note it’s only slightly more than half the cost of the same volume of most wines here. Looks like I’ve picked the right languages to study, doesn’t it. Who’s laughing now. Anyway, the bottle is a standard Bolanachi offering with the great old-style Arabic displaying awards etc., the only English is the name and the short company description. Props that they’ve managed to spell ‘whisky’ correctly unlike many native English speakers who put an e in it. 24.50 LE, 40% ABV.
Pale brown colour. Fairly viscous. It smells good. Sweet, heathery, quite mild. Minty, even.
I drink it with a drap of water. It’s surprisingly not bad at all. Much like the smell, it’s sweet, very heathery. Not an overpowering flavour. The aftertaste, especially surprisingly, is quite pleasant, there’s more heathery sweetness and you’re not aware of the strength. A winner.
Astonishingly and incredibly good for the price. It works out about 20p for a stiff glass. Even if it was barely palatable, that would be pretty good. As it is, I’m bowled over. This has to be some of the best lash-cash ratio yet (MAAATE). Good with soda water as other blends, but I drink it straight – it’s really that good. Whisky is probably the only drink I’m at all picky about, so it’s especially notable that this passes muster. 8/10.