StephenFreyseng
Balvenie Doublewood 12 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
November 21, 2020 (edited January 26, 2023)
Take your average day; nothing spectacular, nothing exciting- but give yourself a moment of silence and relaxation, and the average day is very nice. This bottle is balanced and smooth. Light and subtle, a very easy sipping Scotch.
On the nose: Grape with raisins baked over some Oak Wood. Leather varnish added.
On the palate: vanilla greets the tongue, followed by some fruit, a wood varnish fills the mouth and a rich oily taste. It’s very balanced, but no flavour jumps out at you.
The finish: little burn, the oak wood makes its presence more known, and some spice tingles the tongue. It doesn’t last long, but long enough.
I’ve read great things about this distillery, and this bottle is nice. Unfortunately for my taste it just does a good job at being “good”, nothing more, nothing less. It’s fine and all, but I won’t be buying it again. Nothing memorable IMO
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
@Jan-Case ha I like the example you give on Glenlivet. Once upon a time Speyside was my favourite region. But after more tastings from Islay and Highland, I find many distillery’s of Speyside (that I have had thus far), tend to play it on the safe side with their core lineup. Nothing wrong with great balance, but it’s nice to have some excitement.
@Ctrexman overpriced for sure especially when you look at the insulting 40% ABV. I handle Balvenie like Glenlivet for example - nothing to take serious when it comes to the standard bottlings.
Agreed this one is good but overpriced. The peat week editions are great value and fantastic as well. The rum cask is nice too
@ContemplativeFox I personally refuse to buy any Macallan. I respect the distillery, but the cost value is questionable.
@CKarmios I agree, you can find far more interesting bottles from Speyside for less.
@CKarmios Yeah, like Macallan, it's unfortunately been discovered.
"Quality distillery but I do find its range slightly overpriced