Kicking off my week of festivities was a trip on the Underground to Liverpool Street and the quietly hidden away Liberty Lounge and Mark Thomson of Dramatic Whisky. Mark heads up the tasting with expertise in Scotch as well as being part of 5* establishments in both Scotland and London. A former contributor to CLASS magazine (as well as last years London Cocktail Week), his enthusiasm for the subject is immense! With the time of day being an unfortunate factor, the event turned into a more one-on-one masterclass. A quick talk about the Balvenie 24 and their interactive venture involving videos of the distillery, as well as nosing techniques, we then made our way to Boisdale whisky bar.
Here we met the global ambassador to Balvenie, Sam Simmons and the Balvenie range of Signature, DoubleWood, Single Barrel and PortWood. Both Sam and Mark explained the history of Balvenie and how it started with William Grant back in 1893. From their, we started to try the Balvenie range, first up being the Signature 12yr.
Below are my tasting notes on the 4 bottles available –
Balvenie Signature 12yr – 40%
Matured first in bourbon, then refill bourbon and finally in sherry casks. On the nose, a very soft aroma of corn with honey and vanilla essences coming through later. The palate enjoys dried fruit balanced out with a soft spice that drives into a warm honey after-taste.
Balvenie DoubleWood 12yr – 40%
Starting its maturation in a traditional whisky cask, it is then transferred to a first fill European oak sherry cask. Sweet, rich aromas of fruit and honey mix together in your nose, but mellowing out into a smooth blend of raisin, nut and a slight cinnamon hint.
Balvenie Single Barrel 15yr – 47.8%
Created using only a single oak whisky cask of a single distillation. Each bottling forms a limited edition of no more than 350 hand-numbered bottles, meaning each bottle is unique and unrepeatable! The nose of soft corn and citrus with heather blended well in the nose and made its way onto the palate in the same manner, but a kick of oak and spiced apple hits you at the end. Sam recommended adding a drop of water to the dram, which gave it a spicier longer after-taste.
Balvenie PortWood 21yr – 40%
A blend of rare Balvenie is moved to port casks to create a strong yet fresh floral aroma with sweet notes and a hint of smoke on the nose. An extremely smooth and creamy flavour of fruit and honey on the palate.
My personal favourite was the Balvenie DoubleWood 12yr due to its sweetness and blend of raisin and cinnamon on the palate.
This was a great insight into the Balvenie range, especially as I’ll be visiting the distillery in January next year, and it has introduced me to yet another great personal favourite which I’ll be sourcing to put onto my shelf in the coming weeks!
Visit the Dramatic Website here – http://www.dramaticwhisky.com/
Check out the rest of the Balvenie range here – http://www.thebalvenie.com
© David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog/sites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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