* Sydney Balvenie whisky tasting night, 26 April 2018. Whisky #2. Nose: Vanilla and a light caramel fudge with fruity aromas jostling around the sides. A tiny coconut hint once it has developed in the glass for a while. Palate: A soft chewy cereal arrival. Malt, vanilla, cinnamon, caramelised white sugar, raisins, brown sugar and a somewhat "furry" ginger spice that appears in the development and is tingly rather than hot. A rich creamy texture. Finish: Medium/short. The warm ginger/cinnamon spice lingers but veers slightly towards bitter dryness at the end as a molasses/rum note becomes apparent. The profile is surprisingly similar to the 12 year old double-wood expression, but turned up in intensity and with fudge-toffee rather than honey, and tropical fruits instead of dusky orange throughout. The slightly spicy edge adds some interest but to be honest I didn't notice a particularly strong rum character to this anywhere except right at the end, where it lingers as a mild background flavour. A palatable whisky that is one step up from the 12 year double-wood, but quite a bit more expensive. Whether it is worth the expense is an individual choice, but personally I'd stick with the double-wood. I didn't think this expression offered all that much more for the money, and if you want to step up in quality you're better off jumping straight to the 17 year old. (It would be interesting to compare this with a 12 year old doublewood bottled at the same 43% abv - I think the gap between them would close even more). "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)