A bottle of The Balvenie Double Wood 12 Year Old whisky sits on a dining table surrounded by food and people holding whisky glasses in a softly blurred indoor setting.

The Balvenie 12yo Double Wood

In the heart of the Scottish Highlands, nestled among rolling hills and misty glens, there stood a place of true craftsmanship and dedication: The Balvenie Distillery.

The Balvenie 12 Year Old Double Wood, was firstly matured in refill American oak casks before it was treated to a finish in first fill European oak Oloroso sherry butts for an additional nine months. The expression was launched in 1993, and has become an iconic whisky over the years.

Even at 12 years old, this rich and complex dram is an excellent example of what the Balvenie distillery can craft.

Nose
Supple nuttiness intertwined with spices. Honeyed sultanas and grapes. Hugely inviting.

Palate
Sweet with good body. The bourbon characters develop; gentle spice with a little vanilla, a hint of balancing peat lurking quietly in the substrata. Dried fruit too, combining with nuts, nutmeg, cinnamon, back into the bourbon notes - so well integrated.

Finish
Spicy, slightly drying, still sweet.

RRP £57

Distillery of the Month Price

£53.99

The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 Year Old

The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 year old single malt whisky has been matured in traditional oak whisky casks for 14 years, and then ‘finished’ in casks that previously held Caribbean rum. In fact, to create it, Balvenie malt master David C. Stewart made his very own blend of West Indian rums, filled it into casks, and then eventually replaced the rum in said casks with Balvenie's whisky! The fabulous result is a well-rounded whisky with notes of toffee, fruit and vanilla.

The Balvenie The Sweet Toast of American Oak 12 Year Old

The Sweet Toast of American Oak is the first whisky in the Balvenie Stories collection. Inspired to produce an even fruitier, sweeter Balvenie whisky, Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie had the bright idea to import Virgin Oak barrels from Kentucky. After deep toasting them at The Balvenie Cooperage they were filled with Balvenie aged in ex-bourbon barrels. Sweet, malty aromas of fudge, citrus and oaky vanilla mingle with spicy ginger and warm cinnamon on the nose. The palate initially offers notes of candied orange peel, vanilla toffee and butterscotch, developing slowly into flavours of melted brown sugar, blossom honey and rich oak spice.

The Balvenie The Week of Peat 14 Year Old

Another entry in The Balvenie Stories Collection. Eager to experiment with The Balvenie profile using what he had learnt from a recent trip to Islay, distillery manager Ian Millar ordered a batch of Speyside peat for the kiln and built a peat burner on the side ‘for, well, extra peatiness’. For a week a year, The Balvenie distills a batch of peated malt, resulting in a Whisky rich in honey, vanilla and citrus notes with of delicate smokiness.