LeeEvolved
Balvenie Single Barrel 15 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
July 7, 2017 (edited March 31, 2019)
Well, after a scathing group email I received this morning, guilt has finally prompted me to get my head back in the game- so to speak. For those that may have noticed- I haven't written a whisky review in well over a month. I started a scotch trading group with my friend Paul and about 6-7 weeks into it I hit the proverbial "wall" and dropped out of sight. Last week I finally willed myself to open a few samples to try to reignite the spark. One of the samples is this 15YO single barrel from Balvenie. I didn't really take many notes so I'm writing this review mostly from memory.
This single barrel comes in around 48% ABV and was aged exclusively in traditional oak casks. The nose was heavy with honey and vanilla sweetness with a bit of bitter orange peel striking through if you really got down into it.
On the tongue, it was very cloyingly sweet with a bit of cocoa coming through about mid-palate. It, like most Balvenie I've had, was incredibly smooth and very easy to drink. The finish was very bourbon-like and felt somewhat long given I haven't drank any whisky in well over a month. But, it did burn so good. I'm glad I chose a sample I figured would be solid, yet easy to drink in an effort to get back into things.
I know the asking price on this one is somewhere slightly north of $100, and normally that would be out of the question from my previous experiences with this brand, but damn if it didn't really hit the spot at the time. Thanks to my friend Pranay for the sample and my mentor Paul for getting on my ass about getting back in the game (Lol, j/k Paul). A very solid 3.75 stars.
Cheers, everybody.
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@SolanaRoots - yeah, I don’t really even remember drinking this. I give Balvenie a hard time mostly because of their price point. They make smooth, easy drinking whisky for sure- I just wish the prices weren’t Macallan-esque. Cheers.
Found another Balvenie that you enjoyed @LeeEvolved : ) - also just re-read your Balvenie Peat Week review and I think I need to bump that one up near the top of the wishlist queue. Cheers
Great review @LeeEvolved - saw a bottle of this on the top shelf collecting dust at the local corner mart. Tempted to grab it even with the $110 tag.
Yeah Pranay, egg all over my face on that one, but you're the one that gave me that unlabeled egg to begin with. Great to see you back Lee. Things just aren't the same without you
Good to have you back, Lee. Breaks tend to be necessary from time to time. I avoid writing too many reviews, as I know from experience that my motivation drops if I overdo things. 1-2 reviews every week or two is just fine with me to keep the focus on what is most important: having fun!
Welcome back :-). I was wondering why you had gone so quiet.
Lol @ Pranay. The funny thing was as I was sipping the Balvenie my initial thoughts were more "damn, this is pretty tasty and smooth. Why did I bash Balvenie so hard for so long?". Then I remembered the price points on most of their stuff and how there always seemed to be something much better on the table for a whole lot less money. Aka- the snob in me reappeared haha
Hey Paul....you think he should've posted this on another whiskey...like Macallan, or Ardbeg, or like some, on Balvenie Sherry cask? ( j/k...i'm just in a good mood seeing Lee back ;-)
You're back!! YES!!!!!!