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Balvenie 25 Years Triple Cask

Get Me Off Already

0 976

@MaltActivistReview by @MaltActivist

21st Sep 2016

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This is the part where I write about how Balvenie is a super solid distillery and how David Stewart is arguably one of the best whisky makers the industry has ever seen. And that I have yet to meet a Balvenie that I didn't like. I mean, I may like some less than others but never truly disliked one, per se.

Until now.

OK, maybe dislike is a strong word. How about Yup, I like

But wait! What if the whisky costs upwards of US$500? Is it then justified to convert the into ? Yup, I think it is. Definitely is.

So you 25 year old lacklustre whisky. Hiding behind dollar signs and that smooth talking salesman at the Duty Free. Shame on you for making a fool of my friend who thought he was going to surprise all of us at his tasting but instead had to graciously agree with us snobs that he had been well and truly hoodwinked.

exhales slowly OK I'm done now.

The Triple Cask is the latest of the Balvenies to hit travel retail with an entry level 12 followed by the 16 and this 25 year old. Neither one is cheap for it's relative age, mind you. Three casks in play here as the name suggests. Sherry, first-fill bourbon and something called traditional whisky cask (which I can only assume means second-fill bourbon). If that is really the case then why they wouldn't just say that? If it's something else then please enlighten me.

My sample is from a brand new bottle and served at 40% - ? Are you kidding me? Who drinks whisky at 40% anymore? Maybe Glaswegian middle-schoolers but certainly not me. This whisky is getting on my nerves now.

Soft. Weak or understated I can't tell. Honey-comb. Wild flowers. Heather. I feel the sherry is the more dominant of the three casks. Possibly has a higher percentage in the vatting. That brings out more raisins. OK after all that it's not so bad. It's not wooing me like a sultry older woman like it should but it's certainly trying to flirt.

Is this the 12 year old? If I hadn't slit open the seal my self I would have been convinced that my friend was trying to pull a fast one. But he's an honest chap and I did, after all, open the bottle my self. Which makes it a rather sad state of affairs don't you think? Pay five times as much for something which tastes the same if not a tad worse. Oh, well. Oranges. Lindt chocolate. Not dark. Milk. You can feel the sherry again. The 40% is being really tested to it's limits here because I'm struggling with the mouth. It's a decent start but peters out mid-palate. I don't hate it. I'm just irritated.

You piece of shit.

**Overall Comments: **I hate it when this happens. Buy something expensive only for it to taste exactly like something half it's age and a quarter of it's price. Like buying a Business Class ticket only to find out you're in row 54 stuck between a colic baby and a fat sweaty man who has no respect for other peoples' personal space. Just get me off already.

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9 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

Eloquent, especially the description of the finish.

At this juncture of history, the world has enormous stocks of very expensive whisky on hand, much of it inferior to the stuff costing one quarter the price.

@MaltActivist, thanks for an entertaining and frank review. Balvenie, or, rather THE Balvenie, is a sacred cow for some...until you have had some not so good experiences with it. I've had good, great, and not-so-good experiences with 'The Balvenie'. This is really not so surprising. Staying consistently good is far more difficult for any distillery than hitting the heights occasionally.

7 years ago 0

@MaltActivist
MaltActivist commented

@Victor I feel I should apologize for being a classless heathen after re-reading this review. It seems the experience got the better of me.

Don't get me wrong. I think Balvenie is a solid whisky and the 30 yr old, for example, is one of my all time faves as well as some of the 1401s and the 1509 Batch 2.

I just think I'm a little disillusioned with the whisky state of affairs in general. And that's what came out. But hey, they don't pay me the big bucks for sugar coating the truth do they?

Wait, what big bucks?

7 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas commented

This is what critical reviews should look like. Nice.

For me, I've had the 12 DoubleWood a couple times and found it utterly boring. I once almost ordered the Caribbean rum cask thing at a bar, but then I got an IPA instead. And that's the full extent of my Balvenie experience, both up to the moment and probably until I die.

7 years ago 0

@Pete1969
Pete1969 commented

Nearly bought the triple cask 12 last time through airport but had tried the double wood a few weeks before flying and was not overly impressed, I would not turn down a glass but will not replace when gone.

I recently had a NAS whisky with similar barrel information The Glenlivet Master Distillers Reserve quoted as Sherry cask, American Oak cask and Traditional Oak cask, a meh! Whisky at best but doesn't reach a boo checked the price paid by friend who gifted it £30 for a litre.

Think I will stick to Bruichladdich and other Islay distilleries for travel retail.

7 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

How does this one compare to the one from your November review?

7 years ago 0

@casualtorture
casualtorture commented

@Pete1969 I also had the master Distiller's Reserve and really didn't care for it either. You could really tell how young it was.

7 years ago 0

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