hafssol says on September 13, 2021
General description
As we all know, Balvenie doesn’t usually make peated whisky, but when it does, it often turns out to be something not banal at all. So it happens with this 14 y.o. which is part of the series “The Balvenie Stories”.
The starting argument is that the result is far from being a mere peat addition to the usual sweet and woody profile of the distillery, as in this expression the peat is present from start to finish, yet not overwhelming and well integrated with (mostly) fruity and herbal notes. The ashy and overall subtle smoke works as a constant but shifting background to a bright sequence of sweet fruits (pear, peaches), green apple and vanilla, with just a touch of pepper.
It looks quite clear that for this expression Balvenie pursued an “elegant” side of peat, achieving a fairly good balance in taste, even if less powerful than (for instance) its 2003 Peat Week of the same age.
Anyway worth a try, also considering its reasonable price.
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