Balvenie Portwood 21 Year

It’s pleasant, but definitely missing the wow factor that the price would suggest it would have.

Soft and silky. I always get a plum/apricot note first, followed by a woody toffee. Once it hits the finish, I get almost nothing but the taste of Walnuts on the side of my tongue! Well made stuff.

Lacking on the palate?

Lovely mouth feel, good balance and very soothing taste.

This has a stale taste like no other. It is smooth, a bit sweet, and a tad salty with distressing bread notes. There is some nutty oil and there are some mild red fruits, but that stale bread flavor is the strongest element here. There is not much smoke, but what I suspect to be wood feeds into the stale bread. A bit of orange is there and there is some spice too, but although the flavor is smooth and rounded, it isn't really tasty. Stunningly, there isn't much depth here either. Really, this tastes more like $12 Sherry than Scotch. Do avoid. This taste comes right after the Bladnoch 25 Talia. The nose is drier, woodier, and less sweet. It has a nice malty smell to it though, but there's also a lot of floral notes with some light fruitiness and some tempered spices. It smells like a grassier, younger whiskey than it actually is. The palate is smooth with a clear flavor of gross bread. It's sweet and floral with some grassy, fruity flavors. There a definite sweet cherry notes along with the spices. It reminds me somewhat of A De Fussigny Selection and Symbole National. It tastes good enough even with the gross wood, but it's nowhere near justifying its price tag. Aside from the cardboard, the flavors are balanced and tasty. Still, I would find it easier to believe that this is a 12 year scotch than a 21 year. And aged in port wood? Ridiculous!