I kinda like the odd single malt. Generally go for the 12 year old bottles at the $40 to $50 (at duty free) range for my own larder. Last 6 months I’ve gone through a Glenmorangie, have an open bottle of McCalans, a while ago had a Glenfiddich, etc. I’ll savor the occaisonal peaty single malt, but it’s not one I usually keep in the cupboard.
I now have a Balvenie doublewood. open. I quite enjoy this single malt. It’s the second bottle I’ve bought in the past year.
My questions are would I probably also enjoy:
Balvenie Signature
Balvenie Single Barrel
Should I prefrer the Portwood 21 years old against comperable cost single malts given my preference for the doublewood?
Any other 12 year old in this price bracket should be on my “to try” list?
Just saw this on the website. Should I pick up a bottle next week when I’m in Hong Kong? (I think I saw this last week at the HK airport duty free, but I was in a rush and it was one of those bottles of booze with at least 1 digit too many…)
THE BALVENIE
1964
The oldest Balvenie released in 2008 was The Balvenie 1964, Aged 43 Years. Cask number 10378 yielded just 151 bottles, the single malt having reduced to a cask strength of just 41.3% abv since its distillation on 18th November 1964.
The Balvenie 1964 has an amazing depth of flavour, characterised by sweet infusions of dried tobacco leaf and rich fruit cake, complex layers of dried fruits, ground coffee, walnut, and elegant oakiness.
The Balvenie 1964 is available only at the Hong Kong Airport.
Well, everyone’s preferences vary, but I enjoy Balvenie, and also keep on my shelf an Auchentoshan 10 yr old triple-distilled single malt and a 12 yr old Aberlour.
And while age has a certain impact on scotch it is not a linear relationship. You can very easily have a wonderful 10 year old that costs $50 while the 25 year old at $240 is only slightly nicer.
That’s strange, because I linked to the Single Barrel page. A story about the Single Barrel. Shortly after I got my bottle, I had a friend of mine taste it. He said that it was smoother than any cognac he ever drank.
First off, I’m talking in generalities and not specifically about Balvenie. In general I find it hard to scale and compare my appreciation for something, so when the cost factor moves into a x5 range I’m not sure I would detect a x5 improvement in experience.
Now, if you can go out and have the opportunity to find out, then by all means take it! I don’t, or at least I wont allow myself, that kind of luxury - besides I’m saving for a nice Spingbank 15 year old.
I don’t know if they still issue updates to it but Michael Jackson’s Malt Whiskey Companion is a lot of fun to meander through. My 2004 edition scores The Balvenie 10 year old very respectable 85, The Balvenie Double Wood 12 year old a 87 and the Balvenie Single Barrel 25 year old (46.9 vol) an excellent 86.
If you wanted to try others maybe a Dalmore or Dalwhinnie might serve. I’d suggest trying them before buying a whole bottle though.
I’m with **Grey **- I like the various Balvenies I have had, but haven’t had the single barrels. Seems worth a try if they are in your price range, however…
I find Balvenie to be a straight-up, smooth Scotch - not quite as thick as Oban or Macallan if that makes sense. If I were to recommend a similar Scotch, I would go with Glenmorangie. When I lived in Scotland in the early 80’s - before the big single malt boom - the Scots I hung out with spoke of Macallan and Glenmorangie as the commonly-held favorites…(along with some Islays like Talisker, Laphraoig, etc…)
Oddly enough I started an appreciation for single malts hanging out in a bar where the concensus was that Macallan was the malt by which all other malts were judged. this was maybe 10 years ago when Macallans was not priced at a premium and glenfiddich seemed a lot more popular. Right now I have a bottle of Macallans Elagancia 12 year and the balvenie doublewood 12 year. Both my wife and I definately prefer the Balvenie. Go figure.
I do want to try the single barrel. It’s 42 pounds from the distillery versus 28 pounds for the doublewood, so not stupidly expensive. I’ve " heard" that cask strength malts in the US go for about USD100.
I’ll keep an eye out for Michael Jackson’s malt book. I know him as the “beer guy” and only vaguely aware he’s just as knowledgeable on the single side of things.
I’ll put these two on my list to try. Wierd thing, the Auchentoshan could be Chinese spelling. Kind of nonsensical but the way it is written out is the way it could be written out in the standard romanized form of Chinese. :eek:
I know there are single malts from various countries around the world, not least of which are Japan and India. I have wanted to try Jameson’s single malt but not yet found that. However, the thought of a single malt made in China seems just plain wrong. Tibet maybe but not China.
The Balvenie 10 or 12-year are my standards, as is the 10-year Aberlour. I really enjoy a smooth single malt, but have had a hard time with some of the less-smooth ones (Talisker for example).
So if it is smoothness you are talking about, I would also suggest Glen Moray. It is a pretty small production, not that well known. But in addition to it coming from near my ancestral village, it is superbly smooth.
As for Islays, I stay far away. I once tried an Ardbeg 10-year and thought I was drinking cleaning fluid it was so phenolic :rolleyes:
It’s years since I last tried the single barrel - as I recall it has less sherry than the doublewood, so if sherried malts are your thing then I can strongly recommend my current favourite, the Auchentoshan 3-wood. Really lovely and quite unusual for a lowland malt.
Also worth a try, and not entirely dissimilar to the doublewood is the Edradour 10 year old
If the absence of sherry isn’t a deal-breaker then the MacAllan Fine Oak is very nice indeed, and this at least should be fairly widely available in airports - not so sure about the other two.
Technically those would be single malt whiskeys, rather than scotches. Japan is known to put out some fine whiskeys, as is Canada, but I have to admit I’ve never tried them.
I saw it whilst purusing Elvis Chimney’s links. The site says it’s good. A colleague from India and I will be at the same conference in July, so might as well add it to my shelf. Unless someone out there with experience thinks it is undrinkable dreck.
Indian malt? Sounds interesting, and quite reasonably priced too. I may have to pay Royal Mile Whiskies a visit this weekend and see if they have it in stock. I notice from the site that there are also cask-strength and peated versions available - but £50 for a bottle of whisky might be a little out of my price range at the moment.
I had the opportunity to try a Swedish malt a couple of years ago but I found it to be a bit on the rough side. It was a brand new distillery though so maybe they’ve sorted things out since then.
on further searching, seems like the Amrut is finished in Scotland. Therefore, not readily available in India. My buddy in India checked around and couldn’t find it.
another question. Anyone tried the Peat Monster? My boss likes the peaty side of the street, so wondering if this is something that is more a novelty or would be appreciated?
Compass Box Peat Monster
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
A top-quality vatting of the peated Speysider Ardmore with some choice Islay malt, Peat Monster is never less than excellent. Pitch-perfect balance and delicious chewy complexity.
