Balvenie Single Barrel 21 Year

The Balvenie 21 year single barrel is a symphony in what a single cask whiskey can be. The complexities of this whiskey hide behind a soft veil that blurs the definition of each unique characteristic. One could be fooled into thinking the whiskey is a bit one dimensional. By far and away the most pleasing aspect of this whiskey is the nose - its filled with floral sweetness swirled together with vanilla. So utterly sweet and plesant. The whiskey tastes a bit spicy at first, then melts away into a sea of caramel and honey. The finish is long, drawn out and concentrates on sweetness over complexity. Would have loved to have a soft whisp of peat smoke to finish the taste, but that was never to be. Is it worth the premium price? If you are a fan of the sweet tasting notes of oak, then yes. But if you're looking for a whiskey that will take you down a long journey of complex flavors, twisting and turning with each passing moment of the taste, then this might not be the whiskey to fit the bill.

Got a dram guys? Well grab one...I'll wait. This is going to be a bit lengthy, I fear. So, I don't have a 12 year...but I might fix that soon. Anyway, I'm going to review this 21 and then compare it to the 15. I should note, I've already done this. So, I'm doing it AGAIN! There's a LOT of unpack here, and please just ignore the score and follow me...this is going to take a while. Quick house cleaning this one is just over 22 years old, about 22 years and 2-3 months and I'll be comparing it to 16+ year old "15 year". Now with the 25's, I've seen 29-year-old bottlings so...and I HEAR the 15 sherries which they don't label...some are pushing into the 20-year range fyi. Nose - I won't waste your time. This is about as good a nose as I've ever had on any whisky. It's not so complex that I need poetry to explain it. It's honeycomb cereal and hot cinnamon bun frosting (just the frosting). But it's so BOLD, vibrant, deep, rich...it's amazing. The alcohol becomes this enhancer that carries it through and the oak which is there is almost like this vibration of yummy that you just can't escape. I can't even explain it...this FEELS amazing to nose. I legit could just nose a glass of this until it goes bad. Taste - The approach is so insanely soft...it's just sweet gentle honey with some cereal grains slowly coming into play. An amazing soft and subtle beauty (you can insert your own whisky bible joke here). Then the oak comes in and provides this rich spicy but not harsh or off profile long long lingering finish. Honey, vanilla, oak spice, a touch of I want to say ginger but it's not THAT spicy...and just an insanely long long long finish. Simple, to the point, but in every possible way flawless. And yet, while the nose blows my mind...drinking it doesn't do that at all. Before I give my final thoughts let’s compare it to the retired and much missed 15-year-old. If the 21 is a dainty perfect white cloth, the 15 is a nice off white, perfect for a daily dinner table where you'll make a mess and might want to hide some stains. More fruit and more caramel coming into play but still a honey and oak candy experience. But darker and denser. Even drinking the 15, there's more there. It's more fruity and while not savory but comparison it is the difference in a kinda old caramel chew and a light drizzle of caramel on an ice cream cone. The finish even has a HINT of sour that you might even think is an off note. Is the 15 better than the 21? Well i reviewed the 15 and damn it, I need to re-review it because I under scored the living hell out of this 15. I was clearly thinking price and just maybe in a place where I was wanting "more" (peat or sherry) and I was wrong. With time I've come to find say a springbank 12 less enjoyable because it's younger and rougher than I love today. This 15 however is wonderfully well aged, gives off richness, and depth and complexity. And it does so while being both easy to drink and yet full bodied and mouth coating. A tick really hard to do for most distilleries. I'm now getting a touch of glue on the 15, I don't dislike it. It's odd in a way the 21 should be more like the 15...more punchy and "off" as it's had so much more time with these oak casks, but instead the 15 is both the older AND younger whisky here. Having harsher notes and more old-world oak elements. There's a bit more alcohol however on the 15 to remind you it's younger as they're both 47.8%. The final product, the 21 we're back to...it's truly amazing to smell, but it's not a masterpiece of a whisky to drink. I'm trying to reconcile this in my head. If this were just about the smell, I'd give a 5 star for the 21 and a 3.5 for the 15. The taste is however where things get challenging. The 15 has more going on but it has some notes you can be critical of. The 21....it's flawless but a bit dull. It's lovely and wonderful but dull. And yet I'm tasting it for 5 minutes after a pour. Maybe 10...15? So final score is a 4.25 for the 21 year. I'm giving this thing HUGE bonus points for smelling like nothing I've ever come across. The taste is a bit underwhelming in contrast to the nose but guys, at 250 this bottle was worth it to nose it. For those of you far more focused on drinking it, the mouth feel is really solid and the taste is too. I'd be more about a 3.5 if this didn't take me to my VERY happy place with the nose. That said...there's also not a single flaw to how this tastes or feels. If you like honey this is your whisky dream. Would I buy a 21 or 15 given the secondary on the 15 is MORE than this 21? This is interesting. I think the 15 is richer and more flavorful, but the 21 is just flawless. Honestly, I'd pay 200 for them both and consider them both for 250. These are just great bottles of whisky and I just have to admit I under scored the 15 the first time around. Anyway 4.25...I know it's crazy high but there's just something about it. And it shouldn't score that high on the flavor alone but the drinking experience here is just something else. Oh and I hear there go for about 300 in the states vs the 250 I paid in the UK. Just buy at 300. It's WELL WORTH IT! And normally I add in "single cask warning" but....they do an amazing job with these programs, maybe outside the sherry cask one (which I love but do look at color).

Quite good, it’s a quintessential Balvenie as you’d expect from a 21yr decent proof single barrel supposedly meeting david Stewart’s short list. I’d recently had the Tun1509 batch 2 and I can definitely see how this 21 likely figured into that mix: the wood astringency, the buttery mouthfeel, and of course the honey. It has a little too much wood spice for this to be truly great. However, It’s clean and crisp, right from the start. I really wish this were in the high $100 low $200 range and it would be an automatic buy. At $300 I’m glad I shared a bottle but wouldn’t buy again.