The Balvenie Doublewood 17-Year-Old Single Malt

The Balvenie's 12-year-old DoubleWood has proved to be extremely successful, and to coincide with Malt Master David Stewart's 50 years of service with distiller owners William Grant & Sons Ltd, a new 17-year-old variant has just been launched, created by the Malt Master himself. The whisky in question spent 17 years maturing in ex-Bourbon casks before a final few months of European Sherry cask maturation, and the outcome is a quintessential Balvenie, slightly silkier and more profound than its younger sibling. Honey, malt, vanilla, unripe bananas and green apples on the nose. Smooth and well-mannered. The palate majors in fresh fruits, vanilla, creamy spices and cloves. The finish is medium to long, with more honey and vanilla, plus aniseed and warming oak. Score - 4 Stars (out of 5). (Tom Cannavan & Gavin D. Smith, whisky-pages.com)