Side by side : A Ballantine's flight

@Ballantines is the second biggest-selling Scotch whisky brand, produced by Pernod Ricard, the Ballantine's flavour is dependent on fingerprint malts from Miltonduff and Glenburgie, blended with 50 single malts and 4 single grains.

Here I get to try 6 of the range.

George Ballantine opened his first grocery store in Edinburgh in 1827 and started selling a wide range of whiskies. The business grew and he was able to open a second store in Glasgow and bring his two sons into the family business. Soon after they started exporting around the world and today Ballantine’s Finest, their standard blend launched in 1910, still sells nearly 200,000 bottles around the world.

Glenburgie - the spiritual home of Ballantine's

Ballantines whiskies contain a blend of single malts and grain whiskies from four of the whisky regions of Scotland: Speyside, Highlands, Islay and the Lowlands

Dram	12yo	15yo	17yo	18yo	21yo	Founder's Reserve 1827
Characteristics	43% ABV c1987	43% ABV	43% ABV	43% ABV c1997	43% ABV c2014	43% ABV 1990's bottle for the Asian market
Distillery notes	To select the exact recipe for Ballantine’s 12, our master blender samples a lot of whiskies. So it’s no wonder it’s his favourite whisky when he’s off the job. It’s a whisky for the patient drinker who can’t wait to enjoy it again. Ballantine’s 12 was made with a passion for whisky, for those with a passion for whisky.		Sweet, fruity and gently spiced. A drink to impress and share with friends. The world's first and most awarded 17YO blended Scotch. An impressive blend of whiskies aged 17 years and over that's perfect for sharing with friends.		Intense and rich with a smooth spice. An indulgent drink for celebrating a special occasion. The rich, spiced flavour owes itself to the high proportion of Whiskies matured in European Oak casks. A warming blend of whiskies aged 21 years and over with an intense flavour that is truly impressive.
My thoughts:
Appearance	All these have probably been coloured and chill filtered for consistency - they are all a lovely gold colour ;-) Swirls cling as a thick line, don't really bead up but fall as slow thick legs.
Nose	Dry oak and vanilla, a little sweet honey, toffee and a gentle hint of smoke.	Apples, oak, vanilla, sweet honey, nutty toffee and a little citrus.	Sweeter and smokier than the younger two, baked apples stuffed with raisins smothered in honey and custard.	Similar baked apples and custard notes to the 17yo but without the smoke,	Orchard fruit: apples, pears, apricots; some vanilla and a bite of peppery spice. The honey present on the others ages is here too.	The Ballantine's DNA orchard fruit, honey, toffee and a gentle hint of smoke.
Palate	Smooth sweet arrival, gentle spice, honey, toffee and orchard fruit. Slowly dries the mouth leaving a little zing of citrus.	Surprisingly thick warming arrival, sweet honey and orange marmalade notes. Some orchard fruit and a marzipan dryness as the liquid disappears. A little peppery spice left on the tongue. Nice.	Again surprisingly thick arrival, a lovely bite of peppery spice, some sweet honey. A little dried fruit. There's some vanilla custard notes and that distant hint of smoke. Not as drying as the previous two.	Again thick and mouthcoating - totally unexpected! This one has the honey and vanilla notes with a little orchard fruit but leave a very dry nutty note as the liquid disappears. Again a little peppery spice left on the tongue.	A little thinner than the previous three, gentle cereal and baking spice notes give out to orchard fruit, and honey. A little spiced orange marmalade as the liquid disappears. Slightly drying.	Again thinner than the teenagers, orchard fruit and honey; vanilla  and oak; a little nuttiness. Drying icing sugar note as the liquid disappears.
Finish	Short, sweet and fruity.	Medium length peppery spice and sweet honey	Lingering smoke and peppery spice.	Medium length sweet honey and peppery spice.	Medium length peppery spice, gentle smoke and orchard fruit.	Short spicy finish with orchard fruit.
Overall	A nice set of drams, they all shared a common DNA of orchard fruit, sweet honey, vanilla, varying amounts of smoke and varying amounts of peppery spice. If you are a Ballantine's drinker and work your way up the age range you'd be in familiar territory. So all of these are probably coloured and chill filtered at 43% ABV but I was pleasantly surprised by the 15yo, 17yo and 18yo - lovely thick arrival, mouthcoating - just imagine what these would be like at 46% ABV NCF? My order of preference: 17yo 15yo, FR, 18yo, 21yo, 12yo. The 21yo probably gave me more grain type notes, maybe not reflective of the price? The finish on each of these wasn't great - all very similar and not lingering - maybe something to do with the chill filtering? Ballantine's is a blend, so a mixture of malt and grain whiskies from a number of distilleries, some 'malt nerds' won't try them for this reason, but they probably out sell you favourite malt by a factor of a 100 or even more. To be honest you're missing out if you don't try them - you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Many thanks to @bigbaddod for the samples!