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...)
A very average whisky, a bit uninspiring really. So many better ones out there in the price bracket.
If you can find a better balance for the price let me know, I'll have two!
Enjoy my first bottle of Balvenie DW back in 1994 in NYC after sampling many single malts in the range of 50 to 120 U$....All I can say is that subdue me forever, now, 20 year later, almost 50 years old and with a decent drinking experience I amcertain it will remain my number 1
I have been drinking Balvenie Doublewood for a great many years. Those who are critical of this superb malt cannot possibly know what they are talking about.
This would be great if labeled as a bourbon, and it is very smooth as far as bourbons go. However, because I was looking for a good scotch, I was disappointed with this. There was just the slightest tinge of scotch hidden in there somewhere, but bourbon was the predominant flavor. Being aged in bourbon barrels may be doing this scotch a bit of a disservice, something I wish I had thought of before spending as much as I did. You could get a comparable bourbon for less than a bottle of this and be equally satisfied.
