Balvenie Founder's Reserve Bottled 1980's 40

Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 9

This is batch #9 sample from a friend Nose: Ah, refreshing and rich. Mentholated honey. Sweet, and also strongly (and strangely?) herbal. Mint, sage, and thyme. Whiffs of vanilla and caster sugar, then a wave of light tropical fruits. Papaya, guava, and everything nice. Calming oak comes through, very gracefully aged, it would seem. Sweet wood....

Score 91/100

Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood

The Balvenie 12 year old Double Wood is an everyday whisky because of flavours which do not create a sense of dread when encountered repeatedly. This also helps support the sense that the Double Wood tastes like whisky can be expected by many. The nose is sweet and largely vanilla, although both refreshing and very light bitter notes can be...

Score 87/100

Balvenie 17 Year Old DoubleWood

This caught my eye a few weeks ago, (in the supermarket of all places). The 12yo Double Wood has always been a reliable whisky and was one of the culprits in getting me addicted to single malt many years ago. I first tried this new 17yo with a friend at around 2am after a night out on beers. Our general thoughts were that it was nice enough but...

Score 94/100

Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood

Sweet sweet custard notes come in to play on the nose with sufficient hints of honey. The palate is a warm tingly mix of apple stew with a dollop of sherry on top. The finish is surprisingly long for a Speyside this mild with nicely balanced sweet notes covered in peat. But overall this single malt is not upto Balvenie's usual high standards.

Score 84/100