Review 145: Balvenie 15 Single Barrel

It's about time I reviewed a Balvenie, Glenfiddich's sister distillery, which is also owned by the Grants. The Balvenie Double Wood 12 was one of the first whiskies I ever purchased and I have fond memories of it. The Balvenie I'm reviewing today is from the distillery's 15 year old single cask release range. Since the bottlings in this family are from individual casks, expect variation if you buy a bottle that was filled from a different cask. My bottle is from cask # 8736. I have to applaud Balvenie for offering these single cask whiskies, most distilleries don't do this, let alone at a higher-than-normal strength and without chill filtration. In addition to these 15 year old single barrels, a range of 12 year old single barrel releases was recently released. Hopefully I can get my hands on one of those soon.

Review 145: Balvenie 15 Single Barrel

Color: Amber +2 (e150?)

ABV: 47.8%

Aroma Neat:
Pancakes Cooking in Butter, Sticky Golden Syrup, Aromatic Wild Honey/Creamed Honey, Milkweed Thistle/Floral, Toasted Vanilla Bean, Golden Baked Apples, Ground Cinnamon, Butterscotch, Raisins/Chopped Dates, Dried Malt Grist, Fermenting Lager/Yeast, Cinnabon/Icing.

A bit of a sweetie, though not cloying so. Very wood-driven and "modern" in style, at least in my opinion. Honeyed butterscotch and warm vanilla dominate the nose of this ex-bourbon cask whisky.

Aroma Water:
Golden Syrup/Clover Honey, Butter-Cooked Pancakes, Floral French Vanilla, Dry Malt/Grist, Yeasty Bread/Bakeries, Oat Clusters, Apples Stewed with Cinnamon, Creamy Bananas Foster, Light Caramel/Corn Syrup, Cloves (slightly), Yogurt Covered Raisins.

Not too different from neat, but perhaps a bit fruitier and creamier. Good either way!

Taste Neat:
Darkest Clover Honey, Brown Sugar Simple Syrup, Roasted Oak, Rounded Tannins, Fresh Char (very slight ash), Delicate Highland Peat, Hazelnuts, Cocoa, Vanilla-Infused Caramel.

Wood reigns the sweetness exhibited by the nose. There is now superb balance between sweet oak flavors and the drying tannins and char from the oak. Wood-driven, but to good effect in this case. A trace of peaty smokiness (unless I'm imagining things) adds a pleasingly subtle extra dimension to this dram.

Taste Water:
Delicate Highland Peat, Fresh Barrel Char, Waxy Honey, Nutty Oak, Floral Vanilla (a bit lilac), Marzipan, Cinnamon Stewed Apples/Bartlett Pears, Peppercorn (slightly), Light Corn Syrup.  

All the burnt elements come forward, but wood itself steps back. Very, very good now. Less modern and quite complex and interesting.

Finish:
Sweet French Vanilla, Barrel Char, Earthy Peat (slightly), Cocoa, Candied Hazelnuts/Roasted Oak, Cloves/Orange Rind (slightly), Marzipan.

Really surprising complexity and warmth. Unfortunately, it fades all too quickly. Not a short finish, by any means, but one this enjoyable ought to be a tad longer.

Conclusion:
Sweet, welcoming honeyed nose.

Complex and balanced palate with burnt wood, soft peat, and fruit all making appearances.

Similarly complex finish that deserves to be longer.

Rating: 88/100

While I can't speak for the other Balvenie 15 year old single barrels, this cask, # 8736, certainly seems to have produced good results. All the barrels may not be this good, but I think taking a chance with one would be a reasonably safe bet. It could even be better! I say go for it, this is an affordable dram anyway.

When I first opened this bottle, I was a little disappointed in it. I probably would have rated it around 81. I thought it depended too much on wood and was just too modern for me. Luckily, after a few days and a few tastings, it really started to open up and develop complexity. Now, I consider it a well above average dram. Sure, it leans heavily on the wood, but time showed that there is a lot more to it than that. If only more distilleries offered affordable, unique, and high quality releases like this!

Josh