Balvenie 17 Doublewood Scotch Review
If you love scotch but aren't on the Balvenie train then you're a liar and hate fine things. Balvenie is the brand that I send people to when they say, "I want to try scotch - what should I try?" This particular offering is the older brother of the Balvenie 12 Doublewood which is the EXACT scotch I tell people to wet their whistle on.
The 17 Doublewood is aged in American Oak casks and then finished in ex-Sherry (previously held them sherries - not the berries) casks. Finished means it did not spend equal time with the first cask but it spent enough time that the master distiller felt it had achieved the taste they were going for. Think of that as a residency where the scotch has to do all the shitty work until it passes all the tests and is ready for the real world.
On the nose I get a legitimate Werther's smell - you can almost hear the crinkling of the wrapper betwinkst ya Grandmother's fingers. You shouldn't give two shits about this next part but I love how dark the whisky is and paired with the labeling - it's just beautiful. Like when an Alabama fan doesn't get what they want for Christmas.
In da mouf it was a bold, thick flavor right away. OPERA GRANDIOSO notes of ol' Granny Smith apples and vanilla moved right on in as a sublessor of my dirty mouth. The mouthfeel was even - what I mean by this is you picked up all the flavors all around your mouth. In lesser whiskies I tend to have to force taste and be like oh yeah there's some Twix in the back and like mashed potatoes up front. The finish is long and although you can take your time in between sips you won't want to.
While the price range is a bit high it will only take one sip to be like oh it's fine I'll just say someone stole my credit card and then I'll cancel it. Sure my credit score might drop but it's hard to go lower than a 5 anyway. Enjoy this bitch neat please but if you must tame it add a drop of FIJI WATER ONLY at a time.