24th May 2014 (Tasting note 2nd July
2014) |
The Balvenie
adds a 100% Oloroso sherry cask matured
whisky to its Single Barrel range.
The
Balvenie fans amongst you will be very
happy to hear that they have announced a
new addition to their single barrel range, The
Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15
Year Old.
The Balvenie’s Single Barrel Sherry Cask
has been matured exclusively in a single
European oak sherry butt for at least 15
years. As you will know a 15 year
maturation in a cask that has previously
held Oloroso sherry will create a single
malt that is characterised by dried
fruit richness, nuttiness and spice. No
more than 650 hand-numbered bottles are
drawn from each sherry butt and each
bottle will carry the number of the cask
in which it was matured as well as a
hand written bottle number.
Those of you who were lucky enough a
couple of years ago to get hold of a
bottle of the outstanding Warehouse 24
members exclusive limited release of The Balvenie Craftsmans Reserve No.1 which was also
100% sherry butt matured for 15 years
will already know just how good the
Balvenie whisky can be when it has been
100% sherry butt matured.
It is now twenty years since The
Balvenie released Single Barrel as a
part of its core range. That
groundbreaking release in 1993
introduced single cask whisky - whisky
bottled from a single cask of a single
distillation - to a wider audience of
malt whisky drinkers and to date The
Balvenie remains the only distillery
that has an ongoing single cask release
of a single age as a part of its range.
The Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15 Year
Old will join The Balvenie Single Barrel
First Fill 12 Year Old, which was
released in early 2013. A third Single
Barrel release, drawn from a refill
American oak barrel and aged 25 years,
will complete the range towards the end
of 2014.
These three different cask types – first
fill and refill American oak and
European oak sherry– are the DNA of The
Balvenie range, as they are the casks
most widely used for maturation.
However, only a select few of these
casks are chosen by Malt Master David
Stewart for bottling individually.
Commenting on the release of Single
Barrel Sherry Cask 15 Year Old, David
Stewart said: "It’s 20 years since we
took the bold step to release Single
Barrel as part of our range – back then
single cask whisky was pretty rare and
largely reserved for the release of very
old whiskies, but we opened it out to
more whisky enthusiasts with the release
of a single cask bottling that was much
younger than usual.
"Two decades on, I’m very proud to be
sharing our passion for the unique
qualities of whisky drawn from a single
cask of a single distillation. Due to
the variances of a natural product such
as wood, no two oak casks - even of the
same type and filled with spirit from
the same distillation – will produce an
identical single malt. The fact that
each cask is unique in this way and that
the contents of each cask will taste
different is a lesser-known facet of the
whisky-making process but it’s a magical
one."
You will be pleased to hear that The
Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15
Year Old is non chill-filtered and will
be bottled at a very respectable 47.8%
ABV. Each bottle will carry the cask
number from which it was drawn and also
have a hand written bottle number making
each bottle unique. It will retail for
£79.99 and will be available from
specialist retailers.
I haven't yet had the chance to taste
the new whisky as it hasn't yet been
released from the bonded warehouse up at
The Balvenie Distillery in Dufftown but
I am told it should be available within
the month and as soon as it is I will
update this page with my review of the
new whisky, hopefully it is as good as
what I know a Balvenie sherry cask
matured whisky can be. I am very much
looking forward to this one!
UPDATE: See my tasting note below and
you will find that The Balvenie Single
Barrel Sherry Cask 15 Year Old is now
available from
The Whisky Exchange priced £77.95
|
Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15 Year Old Tasting Notes
|
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich, honeyed, dried
raisins, orange peel, some sweet oak
spice and ginger there also.
Taste: A lovely silky smooth
delivery of mouth coating rich, sweet
sherried fruit and honey. Creamy Fruit &
Nut chocolate, cherry, apple, cinnamon
and a nice touch of oak spice always
there in the background.
Finish: Long, dark sherried fruit
and honey, the slightly drying sherried
oak spices slowly fade.
Comments: A deliciously fruity,
honeyed, spicy Balvenie and a must try
for the fans of the Balvenie sherry
influenced malts such as the Doublewood.
I do like a sherried Balvenie and this
is top notch, the big sherry notes are
in charge here but the Balvenie DNA
isn't overwhelmed by the sherry, they
sit well together giving us a lovely
rich, fruity, honeyed, spicy expression of The Balvenie.
SMW Score 92/100
|
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