Balvenie Peat Week 14 Year (2003 Edition)

Earthy and peaty

Some nice oak and vanilla, but I feel as if there's hardly any peat. Maybe because I'm so used to ardbeg and octomore levels of peat. Or that it's highland and not Islay. Bit of a bite at the end.

Free pour at Barrel Proof

Oh peat week - you were the surprise thriller of 2018 scotches for me. But are you still THAT good? Nose - soft smoke billows off the glass, sweet smoke, candied smoke, and yet so clean. By contrast the 2004 "week of peat" is much more malt forward with perhaps a bit more wood. 2003 is all smoke, light mint, and all the sweetness is in background. Taste - Soft up front bringing in this light malt, so gently and subtle. Then the whisky turns and you feel the smoke building up, filling your mouth with just this very clean shall we say "Balvenie" like smoke. Peat Week has both the level of peat you'd expect from the big boys in Islay but yet does it in a such a way that it captures that quintessential lightness of a Balvenie malt. This experssion of peat week is soft, gentle, and it really doesn't let the malt stand out, it is there to enhance the smoke. If you compare it side by side to this year's the malt is much more pronounced, more assertive and seems to get in the way of the smoke. I have said since i first tried this, there's just no whisky more dangerous, even when pouring it I can't seem to get less than an oz in the glass (most reviews I do are on 1/4 oz and are whisky I have experienced prior). This is a scotch you can DRINK and I've had a few days where I did just that. I don't think I've bought more than 3 bottle of any scotch in the last 2 years and with the exception of Woodford Double Oaked any whisky. I bought 5 of these and this is the 5th bottle. I simply love this whisky. It seems odd giving a 14 year old whisky a score this high but 4.5 out of 5. I seriously considered this for my favorite whisky of 2018 and through half of the year I think it was the front runner. This is a perfect example of how balance can really push a whisky over the top. This very well might be my favorite peated single malt and that's even when considering Ardbeg 23 and 22.

nice and balanced, sweetness and peat