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...)
This is quite a sweet Whisky, which is probably why I like it so much. An absolutely delicious flavour profile of honey, vanilla and cinnamon and a mild but satisfying heat at the end. Very moreish, it would probably be easy to drink the bottle if you got carried away.
Like this one! Does have nice flavours but it is slightly sweet. For the price you cant go wrong with! Always have a bottle in the house and whenever friends and family come round it comes out which always goes down well!
Very pleasant nose of dried sweet fruits, spices with cinnamon among them, and then to my delight you get honeycomb which is really inviting. Did also pick up some tones of vanilla caramel which is thanks to the American Oak barrel. Swirling in the mouth this Balvenie is very lean and round at first, with gentle spices and a touch of vanilla. Then after a few seconds there is a natural burn with more hints of dried fruits, dark chocolate, sherry and some oak. Everything so well balanced. Almost thought it said The Balance on the bottle. The finish was also very gentle and round, truly giving me reminders of Bourbon but has its own character as a Speyside single malt. Delighted, I will definitely try the other drams from Balvenie.
This is my favourite single malt of all time, 2nd goes to Ardbeg. smooth with lovely taste. Been on the Balvenie tour at 25 quid then get your hands on Balvenie Rose for 100 quid.
My first experience with single malts was with the Islay Scotches. Tried some Balvenie 12 yr old about a year ago and really enjoyed it. Has a really warm spicy finish that I like, plus price for a single malt of this calibre is very reasonable. I must try the 14 yr old Caribbean cask!
