Balvenie DoubleWood is, to not much surprise, aged in two kinds of oak casks! It was firstly matured in refill American oak casks before it was treated to a finish in first fill European oak Oloroso sherry butts for an additional nine months. The expression was launched in 1993, and has become a somewhat iconic whisky over the years. Even at 12 years old, this rich and complex dram is an excellent example of what the Balvenie distillery can craft.
Gristy, supple nuttiness intertwined with spices. Honeyed sultanas and grapes. Hugely inviting.
Sweet with good body. The bourbon characters develop; gentle spice with a little vanilla, a hint of balancing peat lurking quietly in the substrata. Dried fruit too, combining with nuts, nutmeg, cinnamon, back into the bourbon notes - so well integrated.
Spicy, slightly drying, still sweet.
A classic, always a pleasure to revisit. (This is also a single malt with the ability to convert a non-whisky drinker with its deliciousness...)
The old 15 was miles above the 12. I'm very unimpressed with it. A Glendronach 12 blows away the Bal DW and the Glendronach is $15 cheaper
I wonder afield in the scotch world and always go back to Balvenie. Flavorful with a hint of peat and sweetness that reminds me of Scotland.
Great buy!!
From a neat pour there's initially a light chocolaty sweetness, orange, with sandalwood and metallic notes lingering on the nose. Those later gave way to overripe pears, musty damp oak, burnt orange and cinnamon buns. The palate is undeniably smooth, but overpowered with medicinal notes reminiscent of cough syrup. Disappointingly, despite some complexity, I found it difficult to locate any definitive sweetness - just an unpleasant harshness. The numbing finish presented bittersweet cocoa that trailed off into an herbal, fatty note à la fenneled genoa salami. I received this as a sample from the Chaps as Master of Malt, and unless it was mislabeled, found it difficult to agree with their tasting notes. Admittedly, I am not a fan of first fill sherry. Perhaps the sulphured "spice" it can impart is not to my liking, but either way I expected warm, comforting, carameled oak somewhere in the spirit... just couldn't find it. For the same price, I personally prefer the sweet, spiced, peat-kissed maltiness and firmer palate of Springbank 10. Think I'll stick with that!
One of the most enjoyable malts i have had the pleasure of tasting, well worth the money & would have paid more knowing how good it was.
