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...)
in Mexico we get the 43%. It's very good and balanced. Perfect for after a nice dinner. Someone below said it is harsh compared to JW Platinum, well, pretty much any Single Malt is harsher than a 18 YO blended whisky. Single Malt Whisky is supposed to be more intense.
Fairly thick coatline and legs run slowly, indicating high viscosity. Nose-very sweet, figs, sultanas, estery, vanilla, caramel, honey, citrus coming through,, oaky, sulphur coming through if left to air for 20 mins or more, probably due to burning of sulphur candles to fumigate the Oloroso casks. Sweetness diiminishes a fair bit after 30mins or more. Palate-very sweet, Demerara sugar, caramel, honey, a little spicy. Finish-short to medium length. Sweetness dominates. Conclusion - IMO too sweet, would be interesting to know which fill went into the American oak casks first. At one point I thought I caught s little smoke, but could be my imagination.
Was a little dissapointed...did have a harshness to it...prefer JW Gold or Platinum around same price.
Balance is the best word I can think of to describe this wonderful single malt. Double wood aging is not a gimmick. It vastly improves an deepens the flavor
The first time I split a bottle of this it was very nice, smooth and a little sweet. The 2nd bottle I picked up though had a real harsh tang to it though, could just be a bad bottle so I'd still recommend this, definitely one to let breath though, and a drop of water doesn't do any harm.
