The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
43% ABV
$160-$180
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What the Distillery Says
To craft The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 year old single malt whisky Malt Master David C. Stewart MBE returned to one of his most celebrated achievements – consecutive maturation in two different types of cask, a process often referred to as ‘cask finishing’.
This technique is at the heart of The Balvenie DoubleWood – it sees the whisky matured first in American oak barrels, which impart soft sweet vanilla notes, before being transferred to European oak sherry casks, where the second cask ageing adds rich spicy flavours and a depth and fullness of flavour.
The DoubleWood 17 year old is an elder sibling to DoubleWood 12 year old and shares its honeyed, spicy characteristics, but it is distinctly different, with deeper vanilla notes, hints of green apple, creamy toffee and a striking richness and complexity.
TASTING NOTES
NOSE: Elegant and complex oak, vanilla, honeyed sweetness and a hint of green apple.
TASTE: Sweet with dried fruits, sherbet spice, toasted almonds and cinnamon, layered with a richness of creamy toffee notes and traces of oak and deep vanilla.
FINISH:Vanilla oak, honey and spicy sweetness.
What Gary Says
Nose: Green apples, cinnamon buns with raisins, heather, honey, a floral perfume, vanilla.
Palate: Creamy mouthfeel with dried fruit notes of apple and pears, vanilla with soft spices, nutmeg, slightly nutty with a touch of oak, pepper and tamed cinnamon.
Finish: Long with fading cinnamon dusted fruits.
Comments: I’ve always found Balvenie to be an elegant whisky, and this is no exception. Really nice balance between the two casks where neither is dominating the other, and the combination is lovely. A bit of water tilts this toward more tropical fruit notes of papaya and mango, although wouldn’t blame anyone for sipping neat and never thinking to add water!