Brand/Distillery : The Balvenie
Age : Doublewood, Aged 12 Years
ABV : 40%
Region : Speyside
Our Price inc VAT : £ 29.49
(Recommended retail price £ 31.20 - you save £ 1.71)
The Balvenie, distillery notes, largely taken from the Balvenie website :
BALVENIE CASTLE lent its name to the adjacent farm, Balvenie Mains. It also lent some stones to Balvenie New House, a replacement dwelling rather easier to heat and maintain than a medieval fort. After several decades the house itself stood empty, but soon developed a new role as the heart of a brand-new distillery from which the first spirit flowed on May Day 1893.
The basement became a warehouse, the first storey a malt floor and upstairs a loft to store the barley from the fertile thousand acres of Balvenie Mains.In the 1920s they built a new maltings right next door, using stone blocks from the now levelled New House. Little else has changed over the years.
They've added stills, but they're the same special shape. They have matured their malt in many different casks and pioneered new expressions, but it's still the same spirit that goes in. They've added people, but the unique atmosphere remains the same.
The exceptional quality of the single malt from The Balvenie is greatly due to the know-how of the craftsmen who create the whisky. Nearly all the operations in the process of making whisky happen within the distillery, from malting to repairing the casks. The Balvenie even has it's own cooperage.
The Balvenie is quite different from Glenfiddich, even if both distilleries belong to the same family. (The Balvenie has belonged to the Grant family for 5 generations).
The greatest part of the production is marketed as single malt, and the remaining is used in the Grants and Clan MacGregor blends, belonging to the same company.
Prestige Whisky Guide notes, from the Balvenie website :
The Balvenie DoubleWood is a 12 year old single malt which gains its distinctive character from being matured in two woods. Over its period of maturation it is transferred from a traditional oak whisky cask to a first fill European oak sherry cask. Each stage lends different qualities to the resulting single malt ~ the traditional casks soften and add character, whilst the sherry wood brings depth and fullness of flavour.
Tasting Notes, again courtesy of Balvenie themselves :
NOSE
Sweet fruit and Oloroso sherry notes, layered with honey and vanilla.
TASTE
Smooth and mellow with beautifully combined flavours ~ nutty sweetness, cinnamon spiciness and a delicately proportioned layer of sherry.
FINISH
Long and warming.
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