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Balvenie 15 year old single cask No. 7619

An argument for blending

0 183

@UisgebethaReview by @Uisgebetha

2nd Dec 2014

0

  • Nose
    20
  • Taste
    23
  • Finish
    20
  • Balance
    20
  • Overall
    83

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Back in the mists of time Balvenie used to bottle this at much closer to, if not actually, cask strength, but they watered it down gradually to the unlikely abv of 47.8% several years ago. This particular bottle has been open a few years and probably has lost some of its finer notes, but this review may be a useful comparison with some recent ones of newer casks on this website.

Pale gold in colour with a very simple clean aroma which includes some white wine, melon and pears. The impact on the palate is quite a shock after the lacklustre aroma, full bodied and syrupy with a spicy attack. The main theme is made up of sweet flavours including honey and barley sugar. A touch of salt seems to have got in too, to add a note of complexity to the otherwise sweet profile. The finish is dry and clean like the aroma, ending very much as it began but without the fruit, a trifle disappointing.

An unbalanced cask would be my summation, plenty of flavour, but not supported by much of an aroma or finish. It argues a good case for blending mediocre casks to create a product better than the individual parts.

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1 comments

@Jules
Jules commented

Agreed wholeheartedly. I often get this with single barrel releases that were matured in American oak only - their limited flavors/aroma's often do not make them worthwile individual bottlings. I'd say it's a rare cask that offers enough variance & complexity to justify it being sold as a separate entity.

9 years ago 0

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