NV Balvenie 15 YO Single Barrel Sherry Cask 47.8%
Buying options
Tasting notes
Nose: huge faultless sherry: clean, confident and muscling in with wonderful spices and burnt raisin. Enormous… but how is the body doing to cope with this little lot…? Taste: a complete sherry fest from first to last. Melton Hunt cake at its moistest, with many burnt raisings as they could throw into the mix and a few extra dollops of molasses for good measure. Finish: some bitterness was bound to catch up at some stage… it cannot with this kind of cask as toastiness abounds. But long and satisfying all the way… Balance: a faultless cask – not a shadow of sulphur anywhere. But a case of where the grape has overwhelmed the barley meaning balance has been compromised: and on the palate it feels as though you have been mugged by an oloroso butt. That said, this is still a stunning experience - a silky delight to be savoured. 47.8%. No more than 650 bottles.
Critic scores
Jim Murray, Whisky Bible
About the producer
Speyside-based Balvenie is the only Scotch whisky distillery to grow its own barley, use traditional floor maltings and keep coppersmiths and coopers on site. Its single malts – made by the longest-serving Malt Master David Stewart MBE – are some of the most recognised worldwide