Review #32: Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year (25th Anniversary Edition)

Distillery: Balvenie

Region: Speyside

ABV: 43%

Age: 12 Year

Price: $55

Color: 1.3, Russet, Muscat.

Nose (according to the wife): Fresh cut flowers, sugar candies, sherry, and citrus. The smell of alcohol is very well hidden—almost to the point where you can’t smell it. Wife says it smells delicious.

Palate: Like the nose suggest, it’s sweet. You get some honey and sherry along with some really cooked down fruits up front. Behind that, there’s something that reminds me of a very, very, moist sponge cake—the kind where if you squeeze down on it with a fork, juices come out. Very delicious. Not a whole lot of change with water though.

Finish: Medium to long. There’s a slight note of fresh oak. With a bit of water, some cacao pops out which is really pleasant.

Conclusion: The Balvenie Doublewood is the poison of choice of one of my co-workers and I can see why. It’s a really easy drinker with a lovely nose. The palate, while not extremely complex, is very enjoyable—especially the sponge cake note. The finish isn’t much to write home about but again, very pleasant. Being the base offering from this distillery, I’m probably going to end up hunting down one of the older ones given how enjoyable this one is.

Final Score: 79

Scotch whisky review #32, Speyside review #15, Whisky Network Review #42

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection.
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.