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Balvenie DoubleWood 12 yo Scotch

Saturday I spent much of the day looking for a new beer fridge as my OLD unit decided to take a dive. I was able to coerce my brother to come with me by offering a trip to a local super store here in town. I picked out a couple of new bottles, one of which was this Balvenie Doublewood. We spent Saturday night sampling several bottles I picked up and this was the star of the evening.


Color: Warm Amber
Nose: Sweet, sherry is definitely present along with honey
Palate: Very round body, sherry, vanilla and a floral note I couldn't discern
Finish: Wonderful long warm finish, sweet notes linger
Thoughts: Be it that I am fairly new in the scotch world take this with a grain of salt but I really loved this. It was very smooth but I thought it showed great complexity that made it fun to discuss with the other tasters. This one is a hit in my book.

On a side note, the bottle we sampled right after this was the Bowmore 12 and the difference between the two couldn't have been any greater. The Bowmore while nice, was dominated by smoky peat. I think the Balvenie Doublewood would be a great scotch for a new drinker as it is very palatable and smooth, but is worth taking the time to really study and enjoy.
 
Nice review. I agree that this is a great scotch to start with.
 
I’m not sure what else can be said on this board about the Balvenie Doublewood Scotch, but I did have the time to sit down and sample this one the other night. Here my notes.

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Color: Rich Beautiful Amber.

Nose: Mildly fruity with strong hints of orange and with a breath of honey.

Palate/Taste: Pleasantly smooth and somewhat mellow with wonderful sherry overtones. After holding on the tongue for a few seconds the orange and cinnamon spices become very apparent. What a wonderful almost fruity tasting scotch!

Finish: I was not surprised to find a scotch this smooth had such a long warm finish.

Food for thought: It's not hard to see why so many people say this is a good scotch for new scotch drinkers. While some of the complexities might be missed by a 1st time scotch drinker, this is a very pleasant tasting scotch that most bourbon drinkers would probably enjoy. I admit to being a big fan of anything from Macallan, but from now on there will always be a bottle or two of Balvenie Doublewood a top my shelf.

Recommendation: Oh hell yes, what are you waiting for!
 
I like this one alot....it is very smooth, and a nice everyday scotch
 
I bought a 3 pack sampler of the Balvenie yesterday and tried this one last night. I agree that this scotch is very complex, but I didn't think that it was real smooth. To me it really seemed to have more of a bite to it then most of the other scotches I have tried. With my first taste, it really had that alcohol bite to it.

I enjoyed it quite a bit, but IMO I wouldn't recommend this one to a first time scotch drinker!

:thumbs:
 
I always try to keep this around, as it is one of may favs, and any one of my friends who have not had scotch, i think this is a great one to start off with, the sherry finish is nice and sweet.
 
Nice Amber Color

Nose: I picked up citrus with a vanilla note.

Taste: The sherry is present as well as the flavor from the oak. A definite vanilla and honey come through. Not a strong whiskey so it doesn't require much water added to bring out the flavor.

Finish: nice smooth finish without any bite. A warm citrus/vanilla/honey lingers with some spice.

Thoughts: I've enjoyed various Bourbons over the years and have only recently been introduced to Scotch. I contacted AVB for some Scotch recommendations, I let him know that I was a bourbon drinker. AVB recommended this as a starting point and I have to give him credit for recommending a Scotch that is fantastic! If you are looking for a Scotch starting point, for the price this is a great place to start. This bottle can be had for less than $45.00 and is well worth the price.

Enjoy!
 
I just recently had a couple of fingers of this on ABV's recommendation. I was definitely not disappointed. It's a great little dram, and one that will be making it into my liquor cabinet sometime soon. Thanks, as always, for a great review.
 
Balvenie is a great whisky and definitely a starting point for people just getting into Scotch. Glenrothes is another great whisky, also from Speyside. One of my personal favorites.
 
Hillbilly Steaks said:
I bought a 3 pack sampler of the Balvenie yesterday and tried this one last night. I agree that this scotch is very complex, but I didn't think that it was real smooth. To me it really seemed to have more of a bite to it then most of the other scotches I have tried. With my first taste, it really had that alcohol bite to it.

I enjoyed it quite a bit, but IMO I wouldn't recommend this one to a first time scotch drinker!
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You weren't the only one, I thought it had a bit of alcohol sting to it as well. A small splash of water will help to not only open up the flavors some, but diminish the bite of the alcohol also.
 
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