Zachary-Robbins
Balvenie Doublewood 12 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
April 5, 2020 (edited April 12, 2020)
My brother gifted me this bottle for Christmas, so I'm listing below the current NC ABC price. I believe Aaron Rodgers has said this is his favorite daily drinker scotch, and I can see why. It is eminently drinkable.
On the nose I get a lot of honey, light vanilla, and more oak than a typical 12Y malt. Although The Balvenie website says it is finished in Oloroso for 9 months, I do not get strong hints of fruit. Maybe pitted fruits like apricots, peaches, apples, etc., but not prominent. The honey and oak are the dominant flavors on the tongue, I still don't get much fruit-forward influence from the Oloroso casks. The tannic influence from the oak is very pronounced on the finish. It lingers and coats the mouth, it is very similar to a standard bourbon finish.
Overall this is a very nice scotch but in my opinion overpriced. For one of the larger distilleries in Scotland I'm surprised this is more expensive than Macallan 12, and $15-30 more than a lot of well-known 12Y malts in the $40-60 range. I've seen Balvenie 12 at plenty of bars so I'd recommend trying it there before paying this much for a bottle. Thankfully mine was free!
72.95
USD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
@Zachary-Robbins I hadn’t noticed the Talisker jump! At least for right now Lap10 and Ardbeg 10 are holding steady.
@BDanner The most heartbreaking one was the $12 jump for Talisker 10, since it was in a more affordable price range. The funniest jump was $10 increase for Glenrothes 10.
@Zachary-Robbins I know! That $20 jump on Lag16 was brutal.
@bigwhitemike It went up $5 in February along with many scotches, some more drastic price hikes than this with $10-20 increase. If it were $50 then I'd consider it a great buy.
Good review, agree its overpriced even in states without price control. I usually see it between $55 and $60, and occasionally for sale below $50 which is where it finally starts outclassing the competition. Definitely not the case at $70+.
Great review! Kudos to Aaron Rodgers for naming this a favorite daily dram even though he could undoubtedly drink the Balvenie 40 on a daily basis without the slightest dent in his bank account.