Balvenie 12 Year Single Barrel (Cask 3347, Bottle 138)

This was a gift from my good friend Mik of miksologist.com. He knows I'm a mammoth Scotch drinker, and found this for a steal. I do love the Balvenie lineup (and can't wait to try the peated cask), and have particularly good memories of the Caribbean Cask offering. 

Single barrel expressions are especially popular right now - partly because it implies a certain craftsman-like attention is being paid to the individual qualities of the spirit, and partly because it gives a certain limited-release cache to each release. This was really true for the Aberlour A'bunadh, where each batch varied wildly in flavor and quality. Now with the advent of the individual barrel number being written by hand on the label, it will only continue. 

"Have you had barrel 4454?? It was amazing, notes of coconut and rainwater, finish was like cedar branches dragged through a fireplace." 

"No, my bottle was from barrel 4491, I had vanilla and buttered toast, with a nice applesauce in the finish." 

And so on. 

So Balvenie is a part of this movement, and I am about to tell you all about this Speyside dram. Cask 3347, Bottle 138. If anyone, somehow, someway, has bottle 137 or 139 or even any of the 300 bottles  from Cask 3347, please, please let me know. 

Bottled at a VERY pleasing 47.8% alcohol by volume, non-chill-filtered. 

Nose: Very very clean - vanilla, sugar cookies, a little honey, baked apples, floral notes. Opens and deepens with time in the glass. 

Mouthfeel: Light and silky. 

Palate: Follows the nose somewhat but with additions, with vanilla, lemon, oak tannins, mild alcohol bloom, an herbal note (mint? menthol?), and some banana custard. The close is especially heavy on the oak, with a dusting of powdered hot chocolate.  

Finish: Quite nice - long and smooth, with an interplay of wood, ginger, and maybe allspice. Rich and astringent without bitterness. 

Verdict: Good! Very good! This is an exercise in purity and it shows. This is almost as simple as Scotch gets - first fill ex-bourbon barrels, aged a straight 12 years, then bottled. No gimmicks, no tricks. It's even bottled at something approaching cask strength. As a result, the flavors are all strong, rich, and vibrant. Not to mention pleasant - sweetness balanced by the natural bitterness of the oak cask, along with a really delicious sweet-and-spice series of flavors. Punches above its weight, and recommended.