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.

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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.