One of my favourite distilleries is Balvenie. I have quite a few of their releases and have published tasting notes on the Balvenie Doublewood 12 yo and the Balvenie Single Barrel whisky in the past. Today I look at something somewhat different, the Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old single malt Scotch whisky.
Balvenie lies in the Convals in Dufftown in the Speyside region of Scotland. William Grant built the distillery in 1892 just below the Glenfiddich distillery.
It shares its water source, the Robbie Dhu springs, with its well-known neighbour. Despite having the same owner, The Balvenie is hugely different in character from Glenfiddich.
Over the last few years, Balvenie has become the ninth bestselling single malt, and demand is growing. William Grant & Sons still own the distiller. In the summer of 1992, as part of an experimental process, a batch of barley was germinated over 24 hours before being kiln-dried, heated in a roasting drum at a temperature of 200C.
The normal germination period is usually around five days. This batch was then mixed with traditional malted barley before the mashing stage. The barley was roasted to between 1600 and 1800 European Brewing Colour (EBC) units.
Regular malted barley only reaches around 30 units. This dark roasted malted barley is more commonly used in the production of stout beer. Balvenie subsequently made a single batch of just 34 casks from this toasted barley.
When it was finally bottled in 2006, this became the first single malt Scotch whisky to use such a heavy roasting procedure. It was named the Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky.
Related Article: The Macallan 10 yo Whisky
The Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old Whisky Review
This limited edition Balvenie Roasted Malt 14 year old whisky is not chill-filtered.
REGION: Speyside
ABV: 47.1%
COLOUR: Dark amber, almost copper colour. It is a thick oily whisky in the glass.
NOSE: On opening the Balvenie Roasted Malt, sweetness and caramel come through. On the nose, there are rich notes of cocoa, honey and vanilla. After adding a few drops of water, the nose has some additional floral and fruity notes. There are little hints of toasted oak and oak spices.
PALATE: The Roasted Malt is a very gentle dram. On the palate, there are notes of caramel and roasted nuts. There are hints of oak and spices intermingling with vanilla. It is a medium-bodied whisky. It starts slowly and builds up to notes of sweet spice and oak.
FINISH: Medium length finish. It ends in notes of nuts and orange marmalade.
RATING: EXCELLENT
It is a wonderful addition to my growing Balvenie collection. The taste is unique and inviting, and I will be sorry to finish this bottle. I paired this Roasted Malt 14 year old with the Anthon Berg Chili & Honey Almond fair trade Dark Chocolate. It made for a delicious pairing.
Also Read: Glenlivet 18 yo whisky
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