Review: The Balvenie The Tale Of The Dog

The Balvenie The Tale Of The Dog 42yo

Bottle shot of The Balvenie The Tale Of The Dog 42 Year OldInfo: It comes as chance and luck that a friend has given me a sample of The Tale Of The Dog, The Balvenie’s 2021, 42yo release from stock comprising of two casks, from 1978 and 1974. 47%. RRP £9,000. Ouch. It comes in a posh box though!
Colour: Rich, fully golden ripe corn in the evening sun light.
Nose: Gently fruity with plenty of old leathery notes along with nuts and polished oak, and more vibrant vanilla tones.
Palate: The 47% here works a treat, it’s oily but not overpowering; it’s gentle, fruity, and although obviously “old” it’s sprightly with vanilla tones, honey, dates and oak. Continue reading

Review: The Balvenie Peat Week 14yo

balvenie peat weekThe Balvenie Peat Week 14yo – 48.3%

Info: Peat Week has been aged for 14 Years, it’s 2002 vintage. 100% of highland peated malt (30ppm) used. Non-chill filtered, fully matured in American oak casks.
Colour: Bright gold with a slight autumn tint.
Nose: Fairly robust spirit on your nose. There’s a slightly early nutty note, backed up with gentle honey and oak, with hints of hessian. Fairly good amount of vanilla, and some milk chocolate notes. Slight puffs of fresh smoke, fairly restrained, and not coastal.
Palate: Reasonably thick on the palate, a fair amount of oils on your tongue. There’s interesting oak spices that hit the top and back of your palate more than your tongue. The malt notes are honeyed and just gently peated, they sparkle on your tongue a little bit.
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Review: Balvenie 15 Year Old Single Cask

Balvenie15SherryBalvenie 15yo Single Cask – 47.8% abv

Info: Cask 16293, a single barrel sherry cask.
Colour: Bright & clear golden with some orange tints.
Extra: Oily thick legs that slowly run down the glass.
Nose: Malty, nutty and deep, there’s layers of great flavours here to explore. Some toffee and butter cream along with a small bowl full of autumnal stewed fruits. Hints of spicy oak wood.
Palate: Fairly thick but also sprightly on your tongue. There’s enough spices to keep it on it’s toes, but it’s quite accessible and easy to drink with layers of sweet malt and fruits followed up with honey, cream and gentle oak notes at the back. There are touches of cask char that build towards the end of the palate to give a very slight smoky hint.
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