Balvenie The Sweet Toast of American Oak 12 Year

The Week of the Peat 14 Year was solid. Now I'm moving on to the 12 Year installment. The Sweet Toast of American Oak, a bourbon and virgin oak-aged whisky. Spoiler alert: I will not be completing the trio; that 26 year-old Dark Barley Balvenie will likely be all gone by the time I'm ready to buy it. And I'm okay with that. On to the review. Nose: Apple, pear, apricot, and orange. Toffee, vanilla, malt, and honey. Almond and walnut. Caramel, shortbread cookie, butterscotch. Cinnamon and a whopping oak note. Lavender and other floral scents. Nice start. Palate: Apple, orange, pear, apricot, golden raisin, and peach. Caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, and malt. Almond and walnut. Milk chocolate and shortbread cookie. Plenty more oak. Finish: Apple, pear, apricot, and golden raisin. Mocha. Toasted almond. Caramel and vanilla. Cinnamon, baking spices, and oak. A bit boozy, but still good. Moderate length. 4.25. Factoring in VFM, it's the same score I awarded the Week of the Peat. It's very good. Though $65 is a bit expensive for a 12-year old, I think it was worth the purchase. Oak is the name of the game. This is a very appropriately-named whisky. I think that if you like the 12-year Single Barrel, you will also like this one. Not sure if this was a one-off; my bottle says Story No. 1. If there are more batches to come, I'd give them a go. Otherwise, this is worth a buy while it's still around.

I ordered this at a sports bar so the barkeep kept asking me how my "shot" was, but it was poured correctly so no matter. Pours a beautiful, shiny golden color. The nose is butterscotch, vanilla and coffee creamer. There is a second wave of sherry and plum. And the coup de graçe: blue cotton candy sugars in the back of the nasal cavity. The burn is decent, but not off-putting. Tastes of vanilla and cream, again. More of that cotton candy sweetness. It does have a hint of toasted wheat bread, but I don't know if I'm just getting that from the label. A beautiful combination of caramel and barley sugars; heather in a field. It is beautifully balanced. The finish is slightly ashy, but tempered mightily by lavender perfume. Lots of Sherry-like tannins, with the bite of cinnamon and seeded bread. Quite a bit of leather. I am really glad I took a flier on this Scotch. It's so unbelievably pleasant and soft, with lots of creamy vanilla, cotton candy sugars, but with a spicy balance that keeps it from being saccharine. Will definitely try again.

On the nose I’m struck initially with minerally and musty, very unexpected from my prior experiences with Balvenie. There’s an element that reminds me of Dickel whiskey. Then apricot, honey, and oddly watermelon rind, followed by vanilla and oak. The palate carries much of the same. The finish is notable for some of the barrel spices you typically find in bourbon. I don’t know that I like this better than the 12 Doublewood. It’s more interesting and the spicy finish is nice, but the Doublewood is such an easy drinker. Update: each subsequent taste has me liking this less and less. Maybe my bottle was spoiled somehow, because there's something sour and off-putting about this. Score is falling. Dropping a full point and could go lower. Update 2: either my bottle was spoiled somehow, or I have a genetic taste thing like people who taste soap in cilantro, but I quite dislike this. The sour funk seems to keep growing.

Balvenie is one of my favorite distilleries. The profile is so crisp and clean just oozing quality. This is expensive for a 12 year yes but its worth the price of admission. Nose is fresh honeycrisp apples wrapped in caramel, rich malt and toasted oak. Some baking spices flare up to round it out. Wonderful juicy inviting nose free of ethanol just dive on in. Palate is more of the same bringing a dense sweet malt, sliced apples and pears in cream with balancing barrel tannins, nutmeg followed by wispy smoke. There may be a glimmer of a peat presence but its only inferred. Finish is long lasting fruity malt and polished oak fading to a raw vanilla with singed graham cracker crust. Truly delicious this is everything you want from a Speyside and more. The drinkability is very high with a smoothness and crave factor that anyone can get onboard with.......93/100.... Easy repurchase

What an incredibly soft, almost undetectable nose. Just wisps of vanilla swirled into bread, a vanilla sweet bread if you will. The taste does an interesting dance with your tongue, cascading to the corners of your mouth and coating the taste buds like a warm pat of butter. With it, it carries some almond and brown sugar. The finish is relatively long as your taste buds ride out the sweetness and it ends with a barely detectable fragrant bread like character, like the inner portion of warm French Bread. Balvenie, you never disappoint. Except maybe in the price tags of your bottles but for a dram this tasty, I can ignore my pragmatism for one night.

Nose - honey Taste - oozing sweetness with more honey and vanilla Finish - tapers off here, a bit of clove with a slight nip from the alcohol Score - 4.25, such a easy sipper with lots of sweetness, reminds me of the first scotch I drank, Glenlivet 12, but more refined Scoring Legend 5.0 - Outstanding, unmatched to others 4.5 - Excellent, I will always keep a bottle in stock if possible 4.0 - Very good, quite enjoyable to drink, can consider as a solid choice 3.5 - Good, would taste again 3.0 - Average 2.5 - Acceptable, still drinkable 2.0 - Inferior, able to drink but not enjoyable 1.5 and below—wouldn’t drink again unless I am desperate