geologyjane
Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
September 2, 2019 (edited July 8, 2020)
I tried this at a place down the street after work. Not always the most ideal tasting conditions, but for more experimental releases like the Balvenie Caribbean Cask, in hindsight it seems like a smart, low-risk choice.
For starters, I like a lot of the Balvenie’s other offerings, but I could not get into this one. The nose was straightforward and cloyingly sweet. I was more unimpressed with the palate - lacking. Light, and so much syrup with very little else to balance it. Searching for more ticked off sweet fruit notes, and the finish was uninspiring.
This isn’t to say I hated the Caribbean Cask - it was just, OK. I’d be willing to give this another try in the future to see if I had a poor serving, but I certainly won’t be picking up a bottle of it myself. There are better values out there.
3.25 ~ 77 ~ Average
10.0
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@geologyjane now that I think of it, I did like Ardbeg Drum, which is rum finished. There’s an element of that Ardbeg sooty chimney + sweet sugar cane that makes it interesting.
Thanks for the tip, @WhiskeyLonghorn! I’ll add it to my list and keep my eyes peeled. No luck at the places I tried yesterday but that’s part of the fun of the hunt. :)
@geologyjane I know it says “rare” on the Distiller page, but I found it at my local liquor store and they continue to keep it in stock, and Texas is a long way from Canada, so you may get lucky searching around. It is part of the Northern Borders 2018 collection from Hiram Walker in Ontario.
@WhiskeyLonghorn - I was going to say, maybe I should check it the Pike Creek but I looked it up and it says “Rare” on Distiller so that’s not happening @PBMichiganWolverine- You may be right, for some reason the rum finish elements just don’t seem to mesh well @soba45 - nice! Looking forward to hearing your review of the Redbreast 21!
@WhiskeyLonghorn Yeah I spent a fortune doing it that way. I nearly always try before I buy via sampling. There are exceptions e.g. I bought a bottle of Redbreast 21 in duty free recently as I'd be AMAZED if I didn't love that one :-)
@WhiskeyLonghorn @geologyjane I’m in the same boat—-haven’t found a rum finish I really liked. Not sure if that’s just an acquired taste, or if Scotch whiskey and rum cask don’t go well together ( I’m thinking the former...master distillers would’ve figured out by now if it was the latter )
@geologyjane for sure. It’s a bummer when you sink a bunch of money on a bottle you don’t love. Been there a few times. I usually give them as gifts to friends and neighbors. As for rum finishes, I enjoyed the Pike Creek 10 YO rum cask finish, which was only around $30 near me. I remain underwhelmed by offerings like Teeling, Balvenie, Glenfiddich, etc., and I totally stayed away from the Ardbeg Drum that came out this year. Why ruin good Ardbeg...
Thanks @WhiskeyLonghorn! I have yet to find one either. Not sure it’s a great VFM journey for me haha
Solid review! I’ve yet to try a rum finish that really knocks it out of the park for me.