THE BALVENIE 12years Doublewood ~ SPEYSIDE, SCOTLAND

87/100 - Distiller Score

Balvenie DoubleWood is, to not much surprise, aged in two kinds of oak casks! It was firstly matured in refill American oak casks before it was treated to a finish in first fill European oak Oloroso sherry butts for an additional nine months. The expression was launched in 1993, and has become a somewhat iconic bottling over the years. Even at 12 years old, this rich and complex dram is an excellent example of what the Balvenie distillery can craft.

Nose: Gristy, supple nuttiness intertwined with spices. Honeyed sultanas and grapes. Hugely inviting.

Palate: Sweet with good body. The bourbon characters develop; gentle spice with a little vanilla, a hint of balancing peat lurking quietly in the substrata. Dried fruit too, combining with nuts, nutmeg, cinnamon, back into the bourbon notes - so well integrated.

Finish: Spicy, slightly drying, still sweet.

Balvenie lies in the Convals in Dufftown. The distillery was built by William Grant just below Glenfiddich in 1892, sharing its water source, the Robbie Dhu springs, with its illustrious neighbour. Despite also having the same distiller, Balvenie is hugely different in character. It is one of the few Scotch distilleries to boast in-house floor maltings, utlilising locally hand-cut peat. The floor maltings at Balvenie also supply neighbouring Glenfiddich.

Over the last few years, Balvenie has become the ninth bestselling single malt and demand is growing. Since being first built, Balvenie has been continually under the ownership of William Grant & Sons, proprietors also of the two neighbouring Speyside distilleries Glenfiddich and Kininvie. An award-winning distillery, two bottlings from the core range, ‘PortWood 21 Year-Old’ and ‘DoubleWood’ took gold medals at the 1998 International Spirits Challenge and at the 1997 International Wine and Spirit Competition respectively.