As stated elsewhere (like in Whiskey 101) the Balvenie 12y DoubleWood was the first whiskey I really liked, the one that kicked off this hobby. It's kind of surprising I haven't written about the distillery yet but better late than never.
Balvenie distillery goes back to 1892 and was founded by William Grant in Dufftown, a haven of Scotch distilling in the Speyside region. Grant, a Dufftown native himself, worked for Mortlach distillery (see Mortlach 12 'Wee Witchie') as a young man and learned the trade. After about 20 years he purchased land near the ruined Balvenie Castle and converted an old mansion there into a distillery. It first produced spirit in 1893.
William Grant & Sons Ltd, the largest independent, family-owned distilling company in Scotland, still owns the distillery. They also own Glenfiddich, the powerhouse single malt established first in 1886, as well as a portfolio of other brands including Monkey Shoulder (a blend, launched 2003), Hendrick's Gin (launched 1999) and Tullamore D.E.W. (Irish, purchased 2010). When we visited Dufftown in 2016 we were told Balvenie only does special tour groups by appointment. It looks like you can now book tours online but they continue to be pretty exclusive and expensive, there are a couple tours per day, they're 2.5 hours long and £75 ($90+). I want to go back.
Unlike Glenfiddich, which has always been driven by mass production (they grew during Prohibition! the distillery has more than 40 stills!), Balvenie is all about traditional methods and batching. It's much more a 'crafty' single malt Scotch. They're unusual in that they do everything on-site, though not exclusively. They grow some of their own barley. They do some of their own floor malting, supposedly one of only seven distilleries in Scotland. They have a cooper and coppersmith too. Balvenie was also a bit of a pioneer in cask finishing, where mature whisky is taken around its original barrel (typically ex-Bourbon) and put into another one (say, ex-sherry) for a short period of time to impart new flavors.
Balvenie has a diverse group of expressions since they do a ton of small batches. According to their site the core range currently is the 12 year 'DoubleWood' (~$60), the 14 year Caribbean Cask (~$80), the 16 year French Oak ($200+) and the 21 year Port Wood ($300+). It used to include a 17 year DoubleWood (~$200?) but it's not being made currently. I bring it up because it's one of the best whiskies I've ever had (see Whiskey advent) and would probably buy it if I saw it again even at that high price. They have some single barrel offerings (common to see the 12y SiB) and some that are quite old (25, 30, 40 years). Their most fun are the so-called 'Stories' whiskies like 'Sweet Taste of American Oak' and 'The Week of Peat,' the latter of which is distilled one week a year. There's more too and one of the enjoyable parts of Balvenie is simply how many different bottles you will see from them.
I haven't even mentioned the expression being sampled today, the 15 year Single Barrel Sherry Cask. This means the whisky in this bottle spent at least 15 years in a single barrel that used to hold sherry, a sweet Spanish fortified wine. It never spent time in the more typical (for Scotch) ex-Bourbon casks. The purely sherry maturation is obvious at the start from the color, it's basically red. This bottle is special to me because it's a very nice, and extreme, version of the DoubleWood and because the first time I tried it was at a little restaurant at our hotel in Inverness. I'll be a little sad to see it go but it's been open a couple years now and is nearing empty, so it's time.
ABV - 47.8% (95.6 proof)
Mash - 100% malted barley
Maturation - 'European Oak Sherry Butt' (exact variety not specified)
Age - at least 15 years
Location - Dufftown, Scotland (Speyside region)
Price - ~$130
Tasting Notes:
Nose - strongly like sherry, wine-y with rich fruitiness
Color - dark (for a Scotch certainly), reddish-brown
Taste - malt grain, same sherry sweetness, some oak, little spice on the end
Finish - smooth and pleasant, the sweet stays with you
Final Thoughts:
It's exactly what you'd think it'd be, a well-aged sherry bomb that's somehow delicate and complex and wonderful. I will say that this style is no longer my favorite (hello American Rye) and I don't want something super sweet all the time. But if I do it's hard to go wrong with Balvenie, they're masterclass.
This, no doubt, is an expensive bottle. I think it's worth it though, if you're into this kind of whiskey. Start with the 12y DoubleWood or maybe the 12y Glendronach if you want to check out the style at like half the cost.
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