”Rock and a Hard Place”
Whisky Review # 956
Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Region: Speyside
Brand: Balvenie Peated Triple Cask
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 14 Years
Age: 14 Years
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 48.3%
Maturation: Mix of First and Re-Fill Ex-Bourbon - and Oloroso Sherried casks
Chill Filtration: No
Maturation: Mix of First and Re-Fill Ex-Bourbon - and Oloroso Sherried casks
Chill Filtration: No
Sample provided by Mauricio from Brazil. Many Thanks!
Price Average: US$ 100 (July 2022)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👎 Not really bad but too expensive for what it offers
Buying Advice: 😏 Not really Peated and not really Balvenie. Not quite my thing.
Colour:
Golden (Artificially Coloured)
Nose:
The Nose is welcomed by a pleasant mix of Sweet, Bitter and Sour notes with gentle Peat and light Smoke in the background. It's a little bit on the light side while at the same time the Alcohol is noticeable. The Sherry influence is limited. Not bad but lacking Power.
Main Aromas:
Toasted Barley, Slightly Burnt Buttered Toast, Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Green Apple, Pear, Nectarine, Lemon, Banana, slightly Sour Berries, Melon, Earthy Peat and light Smoke, Dried Herbs, Ginger, Cinnamon and Mint.
Supportive Aroma Accents:
Toffee, Butterscotch, Heather-Honey, Wax, Orange, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Grass and Hay, Dried Fruit Chocolate Bars, Leather, Pepper and Iodine. Distant hints of Bacon and Plastic.
Price/Quality Ratio: 👎 Not really bad but too expensive for what it offers
Buying Advice: 😏 Not really Peated and not really Balvenie. Not quite my thing.
Colour:
Golden (Artificially Coloured)
Nose:
The Nose is welcomed by a pleasant mix of Sweet, Bitter and Sour notes with gentle Peat and light Smoke in the background. It's a little bit on the light side while at the same time the Alcohol is noticeable. The Sherry influence is limited. Not bad but lacking Power.
Main Aromas:
Toasted Barley, Slightly Burnt Buttered Toast, Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Green Apple, Pear, Nectarine, Lemon, Banana, slightly Sour Berries, Melon, Earthy Peat and light Smoke, Dried Herbs, Ginger, Cinnamon and Mint.
Supportive Aroma Accents:
Toffee, Butterscotch, Heather-Honey, Wax, Orange, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Grass and Hay, Dried Fruit Chocolate Bars, Leather, Pepper and Iodine. Distant hints of Bacon and Plastic.
Few people would recognize this as Balvenie in a Blind Tasting. It's quite different when compared to the regular expressions of this distillery. The Palate does not have the same pleasantness as the Nose. It's a little Sharp actually and Thin as well. The Peat and Smoke are more noticeable now but not in an overpowering way. I miss the usual Balvenie Malty Strength. A bit Un-Balanced when compared to the Nose.
Main Flavours:
Sweet Toasted Barley, Slightly Burnt Buttered Toast/Bread, Salted Caramel, Dried Fruit Hazelnut-Chocolate Bars, Lemon, Grapefruit, Nectarine, Wet Clay and Smoke, Charred Oak, Pepper, Cinnamon and Ginger.
Supportive Flavour Accents:
Heather Honey, Toffee, Butterscotch, Golden Syrup, Vanilla, Wax, Orange, Green Apple, Pear, Toasted Pineapple, Ashes, Herbal Tea, Leather, Cloves, Nutmeg & Wet Rocks. Distant hints of Plastic, Metal, Bacon and Espresso.
Heather Honey, Toffee, Butterscotch, Golden Syrup, Vanilla, Wax, Orange, Green Apple, Pear, Toasted Pineapple, Ashes, Herbal Tea, Leather, Cloves, Nutmeg & Wet Rocks. Distant hints of Plastic, Metal, Bacon and Espresso.
Finish:
Middle-Long and slightly Thin. Sweet & Sour at first but with developing Bitterness towards the Dry end. The Alcohol is more noticeable at this point. I find Toasted and Malted Barley, Slightly Burnt Toast/Bread, Salted Caramel, Toffee, Heather-Honey, Vanilla, Wet Clay, Campfire Smoke, Apricot Pastry, Green Apple, Lemon, Grapefruit, Wax, Orange, Nectarine, Cocoa, Dried Herbs, Musty Charred Oak, Nutmeg, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, Mint and traces of Plastic and Metal.
Middle-Long and slightly Thin. Sweet & Sour at first but with developing Bitterness towards the Dry end. The Alcohol is more noticeable at this point. I find Toasted and Malted Barley, Slightly Burnt Toast/Bread, Salted Caramel, Toffee, Heather-Honey, Vanilla, Wet Clay, Campfire Smoke, Apricot Pastry, Green Apple, Lemon, Grapefruit, Wax, Orange, Nectarine, Cocoa, Dried Herbs, Musty Charred Oak, Nutmeg, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, Mint and traces of Plastic and Metal.
Due to the size of the sample I only tasted this Balvenie neat.
Rating: 82 - Stars on a 1-10 scale: 7.5 (*******1/2 )
Nose: 21 - Taste: 20.5 - Finish: 20 - Overall: 20.5
Nose: 21 - Taste: 20.5 - Finish: 20 - Overall: 20.5
*** Important Note with respect to Rating.
A few of my loyal readers have pointed out that every once in a while my final Rating note does not seem to be totally in line with the written text. I recognize that. When I started this Whisky Blog back in 2011, I was not at all experienced in tasting and scoring Single Malts & Blends. Looking back I realize that during the early years I probably scored the good Whiskies too low and the not so good Whiskies too high. Ever since the beginning I try to remain consequent in my rating, always comparing the outcome to the rating of comparable whiskies in terms of quality and taste and adjusting the final rating if necessary. This might lead to the discrepancy I mentioned before. It would have been much easier if I would have chosen a simple 1-10 rating since the beginning but after having reviewed 950 whiskies it would not be wise to change the system now. I will however from now on add stars on the 1-10 scale so you will have a better idea of what I thought of the whisky reviewed. Please feel free to comment!
Conclusion:
The Balvenie distillery was founded in 1892 by William Grant in Dufftown, Keith, Banffshire. Production started in 1893. It's still in the hands of William Grant & Sons. They have an extensive core range that includes the 12 Doublewood, the 15 Years Sherry Cask and the Portwood 21. We tried to visit the distillery in 2014 and 2019 but both times it was closed for maintenance. Balvenie is currently ranked nr. 6 in the list of world wide Single Malt sales.
Trials with Peated Balvenie started in 2001 when the Whisky market was in a dip & the industry looked for innovations and new flavours. The peated Triple Cask I am reviewing today was launched in 2017, initially as a Travel Retail Exclusive. It's made with 100% peated Barley.
I love new initiatives and I'm sure that Balvenie is able to produce a good peated whisky while maintaining the distillery character. That's not quite the case with this peated Triple Cask though. The Peat (Clay) and Smoke are not overwhelming but still manage to obscure the distillery character. It also works powerless for which I blame the indifferent cask management. It's not really a peated Single Malt and it's not really a Balvenie. The Triple Cask is caught between a Rock and a Hard place and as such I can't really recommend it.
Cheers!
Jan van den Ende July 28, 2022
Jan van den Ende July 28, 2022
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