The Balvenie (Single Barrel) 15 yr.
Strength: 47.8 by volume
Appearance: Light gold, reddish hue
Nose (straight): Paint thinner, licorice
(diluted): lilac, flowers, wood
Mouth feel: full, rich, effervescent, stinging
Primary taste: Honey, licorice
After taste: flowers, oak
Finish: Dry, grassy, medium length
Verdict: easy to see why The Balvenie is one of the first single-malts many graduate to after the Glens (Livet, Fiddich), as it carries the Speyside tradition of accessibility with just a touch of further refinement (you just have get past that goofy bow-tie guy in their cartoon advertisements, looking like a storyboard outtake from “Mad Men”). When you follow the arc from nose to finish, it comes across as an easy tour of the Speyside district: full of character, discernable, no real dangers but some mild surprises in the doorways (paint thinner!), dropped off the tour bus at the end of the day in a lovely field of sunset heather. The Single Barrel is probably their purest expression of what this whisky is truly about, and at 15 years, aged to perfection.
Drink it: as an aperitif, 4 seasons, early fall being ideal. Neat, of course. A splash of water takes you to a picnic on a warm day.
Another reason to like it: The Balvenie is the few distilleries remaining that hand turns the barley as it warms on the malting floor. Men with wooden shovels turn the barley on the malting floor many times a day for 2 days while warming and drying it over peat and anthracite before the next phase in the mash house begins. Take the tour on their site, or better yet, go there: www.thebalvenie.com.