One of these two Blavenies are from The Whisky Connoisseur, but as it has the same strength and age as about half of the single barrels they've produced, one could question if they've not just taken a bunch of OB bottles and poured into miniatures? The 14yo rum cask/golden cask is the other one, fun to try!
Balvenie 14yo 47.5% OB Golden Cask
Golden cask means rum cask in this setting, which again means that its finished in a carribean rum cask. So, a new version of the double cask from Balvenie. The color is dark golden. It smells of vanilla, caramel, straws, honey, sugar, almonds, syrup, nougat, a sweet treat. The taste is on oaky notes, hogsheads? concentrated oak, white rum, caramel, sulphur, neither rich or spicy as I'd expected, more bitter and oaky.
I'd rather have the regular double wood please: 3.5
Balvenie 15yo 50.4% The Whisky Connoisseur
I should have had a standard 15yo 50.4% OB to see if my thesis that this is a re-bottling could be true, but then again there are so many 15yo 50.4% single casks from Balvenie out there that the range probably differs just as much from cask to cask. The color is golden. It smells of peppermints, alcohol, nail polish remover, vanilla, oak, burnt bread, toffee, rubber, orange zest, sour milk, rotting oak. Some awful off-notes, but then again, if they weren't there, it'd be a bi bland. The taste is of soap, vanilla, oyster sauce, honey, spinach, boiled broccoli, pumpkin seeds, green-ish stuff. The finish is all on butter and pistachio with some peppery notes.
Modest in many ways, but its contrasting flavors are superb: 6.5
Next tasting: Auchentoshan Distillery
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