Thursday 28 November 2013

The Balvenie 12 Year Old Single Barrel Review

The Balvenie 12 Year Old Single Barrel - Cask 12803 - Bottle 127 - 47.8% abv.

The 12 Year Old Single Barrel is my first trip into the world of Balvenie. I asked @Davescotchguy about The Balvenie and he immediately pointed me to this is a very nice place to start. I have to say, as usual, his recommendations are spot on.

This whisky is from a single first-fill american oak cask (so no more than 300 bottles available) and is bottled with its natural colour and let down to 47.8%. The Balvenie, as I understand it, is a distillery that still does a lot of things the old ways so getting a single cask like this with minimal intervention promises to be a good whisky experience.
Click photo to enlarge

Colour:  light gold

Nose: honey with a little squirt of lemon juice along with gingerbread notes. Clean. Really nice.  Beautiful soft sweetness on the nose. This is smelling like how Speysides should be! As it spends some time, I think I actually get a red liquorice note and a hint of vanilla.  Nice full nose.

With some water (a few drops), the vanilla starts to become more prominent and then I start thinking about a gingerbread desert with vanilla icing on it.  I might be stretching a bit here, but I might even get a note smelling like a very light, sweet coffee in there and maybe even the lightest hint of baby powder.

Palate: sweet entry going into  a nice gingerbread string of flavours… nice full body while staying easy to drink. Whisky like this is why I like scotch from first-fill american oak casks so much.

Add a bit of water and you get the gingerbread again but accompanied by a layer of vanilla that is so pleasant. There are spices in there too but they are of the tasty, softly warm variety that just add nice complexity.

Finish: finishes with warmth just at the back of the throat and on either side of the top of the neck. Finish edges down to the Adam's apple. Clean. This would work great for anytime in the summer and would do well as an aperitif otherwise.

This is honestly great Speyside whisky. Doesn't have the clumsiness that can come with sherried aging and it tastes like top quality, old style whisky.  I am so glad that the folks at the Balvenie didn't dilute this down to far or spoil it with colorant or chill-filtration. For me, this is a great showcase of good whisky - natural with no smoke or mutters and nothing to hide behind.  I will be returning to the Balvenie line of products for sure.


Thursday 14 November 2013

Talisker 10 Year Old Quick Review

Talisker 10 Year Old

I had occasion to be in the Toronto air port hotel recently following a flight. I saw the bar had a few nice whiskies so I decided to go for a night cap with my two favourite people. For some reason I saw the Talisker 10 on the menu and couldn't resist getting some - it felt like the only thing that would do.

Normally I wouldn't do a review based on one drink in a hotel but I've had Talisker so many times (had a bottle previously too) that I was comfortable that I was in a right place to get the profile right.

Colour: colourwise this looks not as red as the last bottle of talisker I had. I think I am seeing this right and remembering the bottle from last year correctly.  If so, this may mean less artifical colouring? If so, this would be a very good thing in my opinion.

Nose: sweet smoke on nose. Peat. Some nice sherried notes on the nose.

Palate: sweet with smoke and big hit of pepper and spice. Leads to a nice creaminess.  Heats through to a bit of ash. I really get pepper with this. I recall a manufacuted note (a sort of tinny note?) in my last bottle of Talisker 10 but this seems not to have it. Maybe less colour? If so, its a welcome change because that was the only fault I could find with it previously. If drinking this, I'd suggest going with smaller drams because the pepper is prominent and can add up over time as that sort of flavour can do.

Finish: length is good time wise and works its way down the chest to the belly.



This is a good relaxing dram as a night cap following a plane trip! Honestly, I think every liquor cabinet should have a bottle of this in it. Its not the only thing I want to drink, but there are times where it is the thing to hit the spot.  Makes me curious what some of the more mature (18, 25, etc.) Taliskers are like!  Too bad they are so costly!

PS. Another thing to like about this is that its bottled at higher strength than most Diageo owned products - Alcohol is 46.7 %.