Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 5

Another sample (this is batch #5). This is a vatting of 4 sherry butts, 3 bourbon hogsheads and 2 bourbon barrels from 1991 back to 1966.

Nose: This baby is deep and just loaded with a ton of aromas. Green apples, cereal, chocolate malt, off-sweet honey, beeswax, acidic chardonnay wine, and yeasty like a sharp Champagne. Trace amounts of date, grape juice, and raisins.

Palate: All over the place and laden with contrasts, yet it all works completely. It's silky, yet rich. Sweet and also a bit bitter from the wood. Awesome honey. A sense that maybe one of the bourbon casks took on a lot of wood, but it provides great balance. More fruit - apples, raisins, cinnamon, papaya, sweet orange stone fruit, and eau de vie from the same fruits. Maybe even a hint of banana.

Finish: All in the glow of the palate and nose. Fantastic depth and length. Maybe it's from the wood, but there's a great smoky bacon flourish, too.

With water, everything is cast into greater relief, and the honey and wax win out. The other fruit and wood flavors recede. A stellar bottle, and I'm not one who usually is keen on apple flavors (especially green) in my whiskies, but it's not dominant or troublesome here for me. I haven't tried the other batches in the series, so I can't compare, though a lot of reviewers think highly of it. All the bottles tend to sell out very quickly. Having said that, I'm not entirely sure why. Yes, it's a great whisky. At around $250-300 for a bottle, it's not a bargain, and it's not even from a silent distillery (which would suggest rarity and limited stocks). I'm not sure how long The Balvenie will produce from the Tun 1401, and word is that batch 6 is going to be released in the US soon. I'm going to sit on the bottle of batch 3 that I have, but will not be seeking another bottle of the stuff.

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