Review 171: Balvenie 12 Year DoubleWood

Review 171

7/31/13

Balvenie 12 Year DoubleWood: 43% abv

Background: Balvenie, as we have talked about before, is a Speyside single malt owned by Grant and Sons, the same group that owns Glenfiddich. We talked about the fact that Glenfiddich 12 Year and Balvenie 12 Year aren’t very similar in taste due to the commanding difference in sherry influence between the two. To add on more details about the distillery itself, not only does Grant and Sons own Balvenie as a company, but William Grant actually founded Balvenie in 1892. Balvenie as a distillery has gotten to be quite large, at a capacity of 5.6M liters a year. Balvenie has a lot of their own original bottlings, with a healthy core range to choose from. Last year, we reviewed the Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask whisky, an exclusive US edition single malt. Besides this and the DoubleWood, they have a 10 Year, a 15 Year Single Barrel, a 12 Year Single Barrel, a 17 Year DoubleWood, a 17 Year Peated cask, a 21 Year Port Wood cask, and several older whiskies. The 12 Year, which is aged in both American Bourbon casks and European sherry casks, is distinctively like Aberlour 12 Year, but they are by no means the same. This leads us to our review section. We will now tell you about tasty smelly stuff:

Straight

Nose:  The nose on this whisky starts off with a dense blend of different flavors, including some subtle notes of Oloroso sherry, subtle tartness, nice raisony richness, and moderate malt character. This definitely has a contrast of notes on display. The Oloroso does bring out some slight nuttiness, and there is a surprising harshness that makes nosing this single malt somewhat challenging. There is a sense of bitterness that comes through in this, with harsh grain notes and a thick oak flavor. There is even a small hint of botanicals and floral notes that tickle the nose when you start to get further into the experience. As far as fruits go, there is a sweet orange citrus flavor that helps add character. Overall, this is a pretty satisfactory introduction to this Balvenie.

Arrival: The arrival definitely starts off grainy with a slight hint of sweetness. The grain is thick and creamy malt, and it reminds me a lot of anCnoc in that sense. There is a combination of vanilla and honey that get into the beginning here, with a subtlety of white wine coming through. Even still, the arrival is very woody and holds back on any sense of sherry. There is a slight harshness in the arrival, with a little bit of cinnamon leading into the body. There is also an earthy, herbal character coming through.

Body: The body finally introduces the sherry, and although it does not come across as over-dominant, there is certainly a sense that the whisky has the raison-esque quality of an Oloroso, with some minimal nuttiness creeping into the taste buds as well. There is still some vanilla and malt coming through. At this point, you will taste an earthy, rooty taste in the whisky. There is definitely a small amount of the citrus from the nose sneaking into the body, which helps keep it prominent and fresh. The body in this whisky actually lasts for a little bit. 

           

Finish: The finish powers in with some dominant black pepper bitterness, strong burn and residual graininess. The graininess feels strained and flavorless here, not like the fresh flavor you get in the arrival. There is a fleeting notion of vanilla and sherry that dwindles away much faster than the bitterer aftertaste that lingers onward. It certainly contains an earthy, almost chicory flavor to it. The herbal tastes from the body carry over into the finish, and it makes for a good blend of sweet sherry and almost oily, modestly salty character to contrast.

With Water

Nose: After giving the whisky some time to merry with a few splashes of water, the initial nosing reveals a honey-sweet, malty, sherry-dominant aroma. There is still some harshness in the nose, but it isn’t terribly overpowering. Some of the other flavors get a little bit washed out at this point.  

Arrival: Although a bit lighter, the arrival is more sweet now and generally less intimidating. The sherry is replaced with a more agave-like flavor, and the complexity goes away quite a bit.

Body: The orange flavor still sits strong here, along with some hints of honey and sherry. There is a strong presence of sweetness, but the bitterness that we knew before comes back after just a little while. Although it’s hard to be sure, it almost feels as if this happens quicker after adding water. The body is rather dumbed down after adding water.

           

Finish: There is a nice sweetness that comes through now, which helps to balance out the heavy earthy, bitter notes that came through before. Although the presence is a bit watered down, it does help balance the differences out quite a bit. To some degree, there is a slight burnt wood quality that resonates at the end, in an unpleasant way. It is almost ashy without a great flavor.

Final Comments: This is a pretty solid offering by Balvenie, although there are a few things about it that aren’t my favorite. As a casual sipper, it really is a fantastic whisky, but as soon as I get any deeper into it, the flavor becomes a little bit unfavorable at the end. The complexity isn’t horribly impressive, but it isn’t disappointing either. Balvenie definitely runs a higher price than other offerings in its class, and after this review, the 12 Year DoubleWood doesn’t convince me that it is worth the premium, although I would much rather drink this than Glenlivet 12 Year.

 

Why you’d buy it: You like the mixture of sherry and bourbon cask influences and enjoy the pronounced flavors.

Why you wouldn’t: You are afraid of a little harshness in a whisky, and don’t want to spend your money on a rougher 12 Year.

Score: 8.25/10

Review 170: Deschutes The Dissident

Review 170

7/22/13

Deschutes The Dissident: 11.4% abv

Background: Well, here we are with another special review. A coworker of mine donated this beer to our cause and for that we are greatly appreciative. We of course took advantage of that by writing a review on it. Deschutes Brewery doesn’t show up in Michigan, but that doesn’t mean they’re the new kids on the block. Deschutes was founded in 1988 in Bend, Oregon. They distribute to 18 states, and are the 11^th largest brewery in the U.S. Now we’re talking. Founder Gary Fish named the brewery after the nearby river, which can be well noted on their emblem. This particular beer is the Dissident, 2013 vintage, which is a Flanders-styled brown ale, sour and tart in character. This is a wild yeast beer and according to Deschutes, they use Brettanomyces (a type of yeast often known as the “Brett”) as their catalyst. Deschutes claims this to be a brewing “challenge”, as it is fermented in isolation in pinot noir and cabernet barrels with a lot of favoritism and special treatment. We recall that cherries were part of the mix too, here. So this is obviously a complex and well-cared for beer. The fun question is next. What does it taste like?

Nose: The nose starts off with a good mixture of spices and fruits, with some anise, cinnamon, gingerbread, allspice, and some red grape flavors. There is a slight hint of dark cherries, but it certainly isn’t as prominent as one would think. The fruitiness includes tart green apple, with some yogurt-like creaminess and some confectionary sugar notes that come through. It is a sweet, mellow sweet smell that lulls you into an arguably questionable sense of security. There is a very sweet red wine character that comes through, probably due to the cab and pinot aging.

Arrival: The arrival starts of tart with some sweet lemon flavor to it, with definite cherry tartness up front. To compliment these two flavors, there is a sense of tart green apple to bring up the arrival even more. There is almost a carbonated lemon-lime soda flavor that comes through as well. There isn’t much sense of grain or oak, but it does pack the initial tartness of a sour candy. There is a very faint hint of agave in the arrival present, which adds to the syrup-like sweetness.

Body: The agave that was found in the arrival slips into the body with some presence, along with the tart fruit notes, but gives way to some spicy notes that were found in the arrival as well. There are some notes of cherry and blackberry that come through, with slight hints of red wine and dark grapes. There is a little bitterness and a subtle creaminess that come through in the body, with just a small subtlety of pepper. There is a little bit of Christmas spice character that goes along with this beer, but it is very minute.

Finish: There is, from the nose, a sense of sweet red wine without any sense of dryness to it. There is a really dominant sense of creaminess in the finish, which is in good contrast to the fruity character that resides in the beer. The tart apples, cherries, blackberries, and other flavors reminiscence of a Sangiovese. The finish is about medium in length and not terribly complex, but it does finish off smoothly, and convinces you that you are not actually drinking an 11% beer. Don’t let it fool you though. That will end you up in a ditch.

Final Comments:  We’ve had a small number of sour beers in our time, and by far, this strikes me as one of the more unique, complex ones. That being said, it isn’t mind blowing, and the finish definitely loses some of zest that the nose and arrival mounted up. It isn’t hard to drink, but I can see how if you like hoppy beers, this could really get to be a bit sweet over time. This strikes me as a cordial-type beer, and is a great thing to share with friends. It does show incredible promise that sour beers don’t have to taste just like grape juice (I’m looking at you La Roja), and with a little more complexity and less tartness dominating the flavor, this could truly be a home run type beer. We enjoyed the spiciness and unique qualities that aren’t normally found in beers of this style. As far as Deschutes goes, this is a great first impression of them and we look forward to the opportunity to try more of their beers.

Why you’d buy it: This beer is a great learning experience and you don’t mind a mixture of sweetness, tartness, and mild spices

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t like tartness

Score: 8.5/10

Review 169: Ardbeg 10 Year

Review 169

7/10/13

Ardbeg 10 Year: 46% abv

Background: Here we stand at the face of another peat juggernaut, the Ardbeg 10 Year. This is their flagship product, being big, affordable, and unique, but still upholding the ideals of Ardbeg, being 46% and unchill-filtered. There is no reason to scoff at this Scotch as a potential mainstay, because unlike Lagavulin, you can still afford a bottle of this without missing next month’s car payment. It is a peaty Islay, and it certainly test your passion to a smoky Scotch. It is not common to see an Ardbeg with colorant, and this one is absolutely the same case. Ardbeg will tell you on their packaging that their whiskies stand alone as the most delicate of all Islay whiskies. In fact, Ardbeg is delicate like a stampede of elephants running through a china shop built on a thin layer of ice. Nonetheless, as Jeremy Clarkson would say, the time has come to show it some corners and see what it can do. Here’s what we found:

Straight

Nose: Hey, guess what?! You might find yourself greeted by a nose of oily, smoky peat. This nose is thick in a leathery, even road tar-like character. It doesn’t overbear you with the smell of asphalt, but you certainly will smell something earthy and hot. Keep digging, and you’ll start to find a briny, salty intensity coupled with a charred wood smell and passive savory notes. There is even a slight toasted nuttiness involved in here. On a more subtle note, there are suggestions of vanilla and slightly floral notes that unravel with more exploration. After the whisky opens up, a sense of gin botanicals does make short cameo in this whisky. As a counterbalance, fruitiness akin to fresh apples comes through. It is absolutely an engaging nose.  

Arrival: The arrival starts with an awesome spiciness of cinnamon and ginger, along with some mild sweetness of vanilla and apples. Unfortunately, the arrival doesn’t hold up over time, because the alcohol content masks the flavors pretty quickly. There is a slight maltiness that comes through and is counterbalanced by the saltiness and peatiness that starts to creep in.

Body: There is a combination of peat smoke, maltiness, pumpkin spices, brininess, and even some bitterness that comes through in the body. The body follows the arrival quickly and moves into a fairly dry and spicy body. The body is a lull in the flavor, but black pepper can be found (probably a contributor to the bitterness that is seen in the whisky), along with other spice notes to compliment the smoke and maltiness.

           

Finish: The biggest residual flavor found is the long, dry smoky peat flavor that carries on for what seems like an eternity. Unfortunately, the rest of the whisky doesn’t carry that same length. There is still a lot of salt, black pepper, cinnamon, pumpkin spices, and other spicy notes. It is hugely earthy in the finish, in an unmerciful way. This is definitely a finish suggestive of a novice drinker. It is hot, but not terribly prominent in the sense of burn. There is some light, dry fruitiness that can be found as well, but it is subtle.

With Water

Nose: Seeing as this whisky is 46% and made by Ardbeg, we were a little more liberal with adding water, which did significantly open up the nose. There was more maltiness and balance than before, taking out some of the more obtrusive notes, albeit it still stood as a hugely intense nose.

Arrival: The arrival starts off sweeter, with more malt sugar character than before, and even some honey. The spiciness backs off slightly, and allows a floral, slightly citrusy flavor to come through. A sense of pear rind starts to come through after some time.

Body: The new found citrus in the arrival carries through into the body, representing light orange flavor, maltiness, and still a huge chunk of peat. There is a phenolic character in the body, which is still exacerbated by the peppery bitterness that we found before. The body is short, and finishes rather quickly as well.

           

Finish: The phenolic, peaty, and rather medicinal finish is pretty standard out of an Ardbeg, but comes to light more after adding water. This Scotch doesn’t get much gentler after water, that’s for certain.  The finish just holds an ashy character, with a seaweed saltiness that keeps in the mouth as well. Although most of the complexities of the finish are short, the peat flavor still takes its time and sticks around.

Final Comments: This is a bold whisky, and like Laphroaig it is not for the faint of heart. Where this differs from Laphroaig is that it is drier, less fruity, and has some more “oily” notes. I wouldn’t generally introduce a new peated Scotch drinker to this as their first dram, but it is a relatively enjoyable dram for somebody with experience. That aside, some of the complexity is lost after the arrival, and the flavors don’t seem to pop like they do with some of the other peated Scotches we’ve tried. This is a minor criticism, and there should be no reason not to try it. The biggest thing Ardbeg can do for themselves is to continue producing single malts at good proofs and natural presentation. Also, if you are looking to grow some hair on your chest, look no further. This’ll make you look like Austin Powers in no time.

 

Why you’d buy it: You like an oily, peaty Scotch with complexity, or you aspire to be Austin Powers

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t like drinking liquid smoke.

Score: 8.75/10