Tag: Balvenie

47.8% alc./vol.
Balvenie Distillery, Dufftown, Speyside, Scotland

Here is a superb Balvenie 15 years old which is now part of the regular portfolio of the distillery.

The 15 Single Barrel Sherry Cask is a single malt fully aged in sherry casks that has been marketed in 2014. Each of these lots is numbered by hand and comes from a single barrel not giving more than 650 bottles. We can say that none of these lots is identical to another.

As said so well the French tennis champion and founder of the brand Lacoste, Jean René Lacoste, says The Crocodile or The Alligator (1904-1996):

In an avalanche, no snowflake never feels responsible ...

A beautiful orange rusty earth at the height of the most authentic sherry casks.

Nose:
Quite fresh and dashing for a cask sherry. The generous alcohol content is full of juicy red grapes, burnished toffee and caramel. Very relaxing.

Taste:
Full texture of presence. Grapes, caramel, chocolate and dates. Ginger and nutmeg make a shy and late appearance.

Finish:
Pleasant and durable, on a beautiful carpet of hot and spicy sherry. We stay on a beautiful impression of dried fruits.

Balance:
A solid cask sherry as a whole. Did one need to age him as much? Would the result have been the same before? A sensible choice not to lower your alcohol level further. The high price is not a plus, but good.

Note: ★★★★★

47.8% alc./vol.
Balvenie Distillery, Dufftown, Speyside, Scotland

Whoa, I come back from a little break of procrastination more or less planned with a Balvenie of 12 years of age, not the double wood but a Single Barrel, that is to say coming from one and the same barrel , in this case the 88e barrel bottle #1834.

This precise bottle would have been marketed around 2013-2014 ...

As the Spanish soldier said so well José Joaquín of the Santísima Trinidad Moraga, founder of the city of San Jose (1745-1785):

What the speakers lack in depth, they give you in length.

Very pale for a Speysider of his age.

Nose:
Honey, vanilla and flowers. White daisy petals, but so shy that it decodes a little. Fresh and fruity a background of grilled cereal. Green apples and lemon.

Taste:
Sweet and honeyed, nice presence on the palate. Vanilla and barley give way to spices. 5 peppers, even. Much better than what was advertised on the nose.

Finish:
Quite sharp on its notes of spices, but short and unassuming. A softer, softer peat accompanies us through pepper, dried fruit and cereals.

Balance:
A beautiful crescendo as tasting experience. A quality Scotch that lets itself be desired before showing its true colors.

Note: ★★★★★