Balvenie 17yo 43% OB Rum Finish
I am one of those who believe Balvenie is somewhat of an over-performer seeing the fuzz it creates compared to the produce they put out. Although I've in the past admired their "Double Wood", I'm not that blown away by recent batches. Perhaps this 17yo can help change my mind. It smells of sweet rum, almost too dominated by the finishing cask(s), dark rum, aniseed and camphor. The taste is much lighter at first, some rubbery notes, a small hint of smoke and cedar wood. One to have alongside a cigar? The aftertaste is short and spirity, like some cough drops or eucalyptus liqueur, if such a thing exists. The Rum Cask provides nothing positive here as far as I can tell.
Balvenie, it's time to put your good old casks to better use: 2.5
Balvenie 17yo 43% OB Madeira
A Balvenie from a madeira cask, I did enjoy the port wood version a whole lot, so let's try this one. The smell is not that good, a firm alcohol sting, some sweetness, a bit like the last edition of the 15yo Glenfiddich, the one after the Solera Reserve. The taste is just tame, there's nothing to it other than a tired dryness, an absolute disappointment for me. I'll give it some water. Same thing, just a tame whisky with more taste of bad Vodka than anything else. No thanks.
Have Balvenie missed out on the good Madeira casks?: 2
Balvenie 21yo 43% OB Port Wood
Balvenie I believe were one of the pioneers among distilleries when it comes to double maturation, as the 12yo double wood has been around for as long as I can remember. And it used to be very good, although seems to be going through a bit of a rough patch now.. Bad casks? How about bourbon- with finishing portmaturation? It smells sweet and a bit austere, I'm not getting much of the port, there's more vanilla notes and butter bisquits. The taste is at first sweet, cherries and chilli. Then the Bourbon takes over and it gets peppery with some vanilla flavours. It needs a small touch of water. Now, with some water it gets fantastic, sweet, honey, vanilla, oaky, dark toffee and syrup.
Reminds me of older versions of Highland Park 12: 7.5
Balvenie 8yo 43% OB
This one comes in a green flat bottle, probably from the 80's. It has a very nice golden colour, and the "pure malt" mark, that actually can suggest whatever, but since this comes from an era where the Cardhu scheme weren't yet discovered I believe it's a true single malt. It smells a bit of flowers, milk chocolate, toasted almonds and garlic. The taste is at first creamy and a bit tender, then goes to minty sweets, like the inside of an after eight, before it finishes with some real peppery layers in the end. A fairly good malt, with a bit going on, like the old Founders Reserve.
It's flawless, but a bit simple: 5
Balvenie 15yo 50.4% OB Single Barrel
A balvenie from a single bourbon barrel, I don't know about this one, but let's go. The high alcohol volume makes the usually so mellow Balvenie seem a bit frustrated. It has some vanilla and peppermints, but it seems overshadowed by the alcohol. Give it some water and the bourbon influence comes forward. It tastes of vanilla, but gets a bit tame, and I miss the roundness of the Double Wood. Other than that it's pretty balanced, but hardly interesting.
A boring Balvenie: 5.5
The Balvenie NAS 62% "As We Get It"
"As We Get It" is another expression for Un-chill filtered Cask Strength I guess. This one is from the 70's, and is one of the strongest malts I've come across. Reeks of medical industrial spirit and chalk dust. Far too strong without added water, with some water, a small hint of liquorice is created. Nothing more.
Explosives: 1
The Balvenie 10yo 43% OB Founder's Reserve
This 10-year old's matured in traditional oak barrells, in contrast to the more popular 12yo. It doesn't stop the sweet smoked, sugary and honeyed balvenie-odor to appear. But the taste is a bit burnt and rancid, sweet at first, as expected, but with a very earthy and bitter finish. I you ask me, they could have dropped this version as it doesn't really difference from the Double Wood in any ways worth mentioning.
Traditional, good whisky: 5.5
Balvenie 12yo 40% OB Double Wood
Matured 50/50 in Sherry and traditional oak casks. smells heavily oak influenced, much sherry. The taste is initially very strong, while the finish reminds of a finer, more subtle sweet malt. This is high cask art.
Starts powerful, ends classy: 8
Balvenie 12yo 40% OB Signature
This is the one replacing the old 10yo Founders Reserve, which I found to be a pretty mediocre whisky. Let's see if they've raised their game with this one. The nose is very light, almost aperitif-like, butter, parsley and orange marmalade. The taste is very sweet, perfumy, anis, a bit like buffalo trace bourbon. Well, water then, now it's becoming even sweeter at first, but with a more peppery finish. Although nice, I just can't get my mind off that it's just a bit to similar to bourbon.
For the bourbon-lovers: 4
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