Balvenie 17 Year Old "Doublewood" Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)

95WE

$139.99

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Wine Enthusiast

Reviewed December 2017

This sherry cask-finished Scotch offers creamy vanilla and crème brûlée, plus a mouthwatering citrus astringency on the midpalate and baking spice finish. Adding water pulls it all together, blending together lemon cream, almond and a gently spiced exhale. (KN)

Professional Reviews

Whisky Advocate

A limited edition bottling to commemorate the great David Stewart’s 50th year in the business and, as befits this quiet man, here’s a release that rewards just sitting and listening. This gives more of a nod to Cognac than Speyside; something to do with the dried apricot, orange blossom, and golden syrup. The palate is gentle and layered, with more dried fruits, which are balanced by an almost jammy finish where, finally, some cereal is glimpsed. (DB, Spring 2013)

Staff Reviews

David Othenin-Girard

K&L Buyer

Balvenie released the 17 year follow-up to the ultra-popular 12 year Doublewood to attack a price and age range that they'd historically been avoiding. We used to get the oddball cask finishes in the 17 year range (peated, Madeira, Islay, etc), but for standard offerings Balvenie went straight from 12 to 21. Assuming the 12 year Doublewood spends 10 years in ex-bourbon/hogshead and 2 years in ex-sherry, we can assume this simply spends another 5 years or so in sherry before bottling. Deep and darker than the 12 year, there's still tons of fresh vanilla and oak poking through the rich toffee and nutty sherry. A wonderful balance between the fragrant freshness of the Aberlour spirit, the rich oak flavors, and the dense sherry influence.

Notes

Hot on the heels of the tremendous success from the Doublewood 12, Balvenie is reaching further into its wonderful aged stock and releasing a double-matured single malt from 17-year-old casks. First aged in ex-bourbon casks then finished for another spell in ex-sherry casks, this is the richest and smoothest expression from Balvenie we've seen in a while. Big flavors of cakebread, cinnamon, fresh baking spices, and butterscotch that move over the palate at a slow crawl, but it's never overtly sweet or cloying. The flavors are very much grounded in single malt with a holiday dessert accent. It's decadent stuff. Demand was pent up for a year once word of this release became imminent. Don't wait again on this one. It's very good Balvenie.

Details

Origin	Speyside, Highlands, Scotland
Type/Varietal	Malt
Alcohol Content	43%
SKU	1114198