Can you believe it; I have not tried one single Balvenie whisky this whole year! What a shame and something that needs rectification immediately! And with the coolish weather we are having, I think a whisky aged in Rum casks is perfect. So I took down the Balvenie Golden Cask 14 year old single malt Scotch whisky.
The Balvenie is a distillery I love. I have tasted plenty of the Balvenie releases including the Balvenie Triple Cask 16 yo, the Balvenie Peated Cask and the Balvenie Portwood 1993 whisky release.
The distillery was founded by William Grant, who learnt his trade at Mortlach distillery. The Balvenie distillery is located in Speyside, Scotland and has been around since 1892. The Balvenie lies just below the Glenfiddich distillery, sharing its water source, the Robbie Dhu springs.
Also Read: Three Ships 10 year old Whisky
But today is all about the Golden Cask. This Balvenie Golden Cask Scotch whisky was initially bottled for the travel retail market.
The whisky was first matured in traditional oak casks and then finished in casks that formerly held golden Caribbean rum. It’s crafted by Balvenie’s David Stewart. It has been discontinued and I can’t find it available anymore.
REGION: Speyside
ABV: 47.5%
COLOUR: Light wheat gold
NOSE: Heaps of fruits, florals with butterscotch and fudge and vanilla. Fields of summer flowers with hints of cinnamon spice and hints of chocolate coated fruits and oak.
PALATE: The fruity sweetness promised on the nose is not so pronounced, and there are more spicy notes on the palate. The Golden Cask is refined and luxurious. It is fresh and light with pineapple, tropical fruit. Complex and delicious, water brings sweetness to the front and makes the whisky delicious and drinkable.
FINISH: Long and lingering with some sweetness and cinnamon coming through at the end.
RATING: EXCELLENT
A lovely release. I will be sad when we finish this bottle of Balvenie whisky; especially as it can’t be replaced. The balance between the fruity notes, the spices and the tropical hints is delicious and luxurious.
I have paired this Golden Cask single malt release with some Lindt Papaya chocolate for New Year. The fruity chocolate enhanced the tropical fruit notes of the Golden Cask whisky and the whisky smoothed out the creamy sweet notes of the chocolate. It made for a wonderfully rich and decadent fruit combination.
I am glad that I at least have the Caribbean Cask to make me dream of tropical islands. A side by side comparison between the Golden Cask and the Caribbean Cask deserved its own blog post.
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