FACTS
William Grant was born in 1839 and at the age of 27, he became a bookkeeper at Mortlach Distillery. He was later appointed as a clerk and then manager and learned about distilling. Twenty years later, he left Mortlach and bought a field near Balvenie Castle where he drew up plans for his distillery. In 1892, work began to convert Balvenie New House into a distillery and in May 1893, their first distillation took place. In 1923, William Grant passed away and his son, John began the first expansion of the distillery. In 1929, the original maltings were replaced with the traditional malting floor that the distillery still uses today.
In 1962, David C. Stewart began working with William Grant & Sons and in 1974, he became the Malt Master of The Balvenie, the fourth in the distillery's history. David Stewart was key in the evolution of Wood Finishing and in 1983, he started experimenting with maturing spirit in two different wood types. The first official bottling of The Balvenie was released in 1971 and was labelled as an 8 year old Pure Malt Whisky. In 1987, they released a 50 year old whisky which was one of the industry's first bottlings of such great age. In 1993, the distillery's centenary was celebrated with the launch of three core bottlings; the 10 year old Founder's Reserve, 12 year old Doublewood and the 15 year old Single Barrel, with the latter two still forming part of today's core range.
In 2004, a 30 year old whisky was launched to celebrate David Stewart's 30 years as Malt Master and in 2010, Tun 1401 was released, being the first of the Tun range in which David selects some of his favourite casks from The Balvenie's oldest warehouses and then marries them in a Tun. Tun 1401 was replaced by Tun 1509, in 2014. In 2015, The Balvenie DCS Compendium is launched to celebrate David Stewart's contribution to The Balvenie and over 50 years in the whisky industry. It consists of a selection of 25 extremely rare and significant vintage, single cask whiskies, released over five years and capturing the breadth of David's achievements and his contribution to his craft. The Balvenie has also released a series of Triple Cask whiskies exclusively for Travel Retail, including a 16 and 25 year old, a 14 peated and the 12 year old we're reviewing today.
Whisky/ Year: Balvenie 12 year old Triple Cask (2018)
Whisky Type: Single Malt
Distillery/Owner: The Balvenie Distillery (William Grant & Sons)
Country/Region: Scotland (Speyside)
Cask Type: First-fill Bourbon / Refill Bourbon / First-fill Sherry
Age: 12 years old
ABV: 40%
Chill Filtration: Probably
Natural Colour: Probably not
Price: R925 / $65 / £50 (Big 5 Duty Free, Jhb)
TASTING NOTES
Colour:
Deep Gold / Clear Apple Juice (E150a)
Nose:
Lots of 'green' smells here. The first thing you smell is sweet, green apples followed by a herbal, leafy note. There's vanilla, honey and butterscotch as well as some light citrus. A hint of mint is also present in the background
Palate:
The palate is rather thin and watery with delicate white fruits and citrus upfront. There's a hint of peach and a fairly solid floral note as well. Again, a caramel and vanilla sweetness is present which leads to a pleasant menthol/camphor note
Finish:
The finish is of medium length with lingering honey, stone fruits and menthol
P.S.
I have tasted a number of Balvenie expressions and my overall impression is that they're always well-made but always somewhat pedestrian. From the 12 and 17 Doublewood to the 14 Caribbean Cask, the 15 Single Barrel and the 21 Portwood, nothing has ever blown me away. This 12 year old Triple Cask is a little different. The cask composition has given it a little something more than it's Doublewood sibling and although the 40% abv is abysmal and leaves you wondering how much better it could be at 46%, the lightness, together with the fantastic herbal/menthol notes and stone fruits, makes this drop a little more interesting and even though I wouldn't buy a full bottle of it, I'd happily sip on it in a bar or if offered to me.
SCORE: 6.5/10
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