Balvenie 25 Years Single Barrel

Balvenie has a range of Single Barrel expressions: 12 years (first-fill bourbon), 15 years (sherry cask) and 25 years of age (traditional).

Traditional Oak means refill ex-bourbon casks in the case of this Balvenie 25 Year Old Single Barrel. Each bottling is limited to 300 bottles at most.

Balvenie 25 yo Single Barrel ‘Traditional Oak’ 1992 (47,8%, OB 2018, cask #3161)

Nose: quite fresh and vibrant, with hardly any make-up for the spirit. Banana candy, crushed mint leaves and floral honey. Some carpenter aromas. Grapefruit peel and a hint of ginger. Fragrant vanilla and new leather as well.

Mouth: same feeling of balanced oak and plenty of lightweight flavours. Pears, apples, yellow plums. Hints of custard. Then more oaky hints, with white pepper, green tea and lemon zest.

Finish: quite short, still zesty, malty, minty and cake-y.

Classic Balvenie, fresh and faultless, but you never get a feeling of grandeur or high age, which is a shame given the price. Available from The Whisky Exchange or Master of Malt (although in this case it’s always difficult to know which edition you’re getting).

Score: 86/100