Archive For The “Official Bottling” Category
Israel is usually far off the beaten path for brand ambassadors, and the arrival of one is a great reason for a get-together. So when Balvenie ambassador Jonny Cornthwaite came to Israel to lead a tasting for local importer HaKerem, Israel’s whisky bloggers (all three of us: Yoav of Whisky Gospel, Gal of Whisky Israel and yours…
I reviewed the standard 40% ABV 21 year old PortWood Balvenie here, and bemoaned the craft presentation of the crown jewel in the Balvenie core range both chill filtered and in a low ABV. I mentioned that a new version presented at 47.6% ABV with no chill filtration, and hoped that I would get a…
One small, lesser know fact is that all Balvenie whisky is peated. Well, at 6 ppm you wouldn’t really call it peated, but the malt does get a few hours of peat smoke exposure. The distillery has two furnaces, and the peat exposure is done at the beginning of the kilning. That’s not, however, what…
If asked what Balvenie’s “thing” is, I’d say it’s finishes. Granted, some of the expressions are unfinished, but very few are “straight up” bourbon or sherry cask matured. But looking at Balvenie’s core range, it secreams finishes: from the 12 year old DoubleWood (reviewed here), the 14 year old Caribbean Cask (reviewed here), today’s 17…
I love getting mail from my readers, and this week I got an email from Malt and Oak reader and Balvenie fan Tiffany asking for a review of the Balvenie 14 year old Caribbean Cask. In truth, I’ve been remiss in publishing notes for several Balvenie expression I either have notes for, or have samples…