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1257 Kensington Road NW
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To craft DoubleWood 17 Year Old, David Stewart, who celebrates his 50th year at The Balvenie in 2012, returned to one of his most celebrated achievements – consecutive maturation in two different types of cask, a process often referred to as ‘cask finishing.’
This technique is at the heart of The Balvenie DoubleWood – it sees the whisky matured first in American oak barrels, which impart soft sweet vanilla notes, before being transferred to European oak sherry casks, where the second cask aging adds rich spicy flavors, depth and fullness of flavor.
An elder sibling to the popular DoubleWood 12 Year Old, this new aged version shares the same DNA and the honeyed, spicy characteristics as the 12 Year Old, but it is distinctly different, with deeper vanilla notes, hints of green apple, creamy toffee and a striking richness and complexity.
750ml ml
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Elegant and complex with oak, vanilla, honeyed sweetness and a hint of green apple.
Palate: Sweet with dried fruits, sherbet spice, toasted almonds and cinnamon, layered with a richness of creamy toffee notes, traces of oak and deep vanilla.
Finish: Vanilla, oak, honey and a spicy sweetness.
Balvenie is one of the two major Speyside distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons. It is typically one of the top 10 best selling Scottish Single Malt Brands worldwide - but the distillery’s production and sales are dwarfed by another William Grant & Sons operation that goes by the name Glenfiddich. You could say that Balvenie gets overshadowed by the giant that is its neighbouring sister distillery Glenfiddich, but then again which distilleries in Scotland aren’t?
Balvenie was built in 1892 on a 12 acre site next to its sister distillery Glenfiddich. The first spirit ran from the stills in 1893. Originally referred to as Glen Gordon, it was renamed in honour of the ruined nearby Balvenie Castle.
The Balvenie distillery still operates its own floor maltings on site - though it is only responsible for up to 15% of the malt needed for its own production. The house whisky profile is typically well-rounded and honeyed in style. Hints of peat can sometimes be found, but typically not in amounts great enough to keep it from being a crowd-pleaser.
Both as a distillery and as a brand, Balvenie has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past half-century - due in no small part to a gentleman named David Stewart. David is the Malt Master at Balvenie who has played a large role in making this single malt as sought after as it is to this day. He was one of the first to experiment with cask finishing with the introduction of the venerable Balvenie 12-Year-Old Doublewood in 1993. In 2017 David marked his 55th year of service in the whisky industry with William Grants.
Cask finishing plays a role in much of the of the current lineup for Balvenie. The distillery was one of the first to introduce a finished single malt with the launch of Double Wood in 1993. It remains a staple for the brand, matured in ex-Bourbon before finishing for a short period in ex-Sherry.
$102.99
Bottled at 40% the Balvenie Double Wood is matured in ex-Bourbon casks before finising in Oloroso sherry casks for 9 months. The whisky is then married in tuns for 3-4 months before bottling.
Producer Description
"DoubleWood 12 was launched in 1993, using a process designed by our Malt Master David Stewart in 1982, now commonly known as 'wood finishing'. To make The Balvenie DoubleWood, David Stewart MBE takes whisky that has spent at least 12 years in traditional whisky casks, American Oak ex-bourbon barrels and hogsheads, and moves it to Spanish oak ex-Oloroso sherry casks for an additional nine months. The whisky is then transferred to large oak vessels called “tuns” for 3-4 months to allow the whiskies from individual casks to “marry”.'
$154.99
The Balvenie 14 Year has been a staple for the core range for some time now. Bottled at 43% the 14 is a smooth and decadent Balvenie finished in Caribbean rum casks!
Producer Description
"The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 year old single malt whisky has been matured in traditional oak whisky casks for 14 years, and then ‘finished’ in casks that previously held Caribbean rum. To create the ideal finish Malt Master David C. Stewart MBE filled American oak casks with his own blend of select West Indian rums. When he judged the casks to be ready, the rum was replaced with the 14 year old spirit and the wood was put to work adding the final touches."
$254.99
The second release in the Balvenie Stories is the Week of Peat, a 14 year old single malt made from a run of heavily peated barley. Almost certainly matured in American oak, though that is not specified. 48.3%.
Producer Description
"Eager to experiment with The Balvenie profile using what he had learnt from a recent trip to Islay, distillery manager Ian Millar ordered a batch of Speyside peat for the kiln. For a week a year, The Balvenie distills a batch of peated malt, resulting in a whisky rich in honey, vanilla and citrus notes with an extra layer of delicate smokiness."
