Introduction
The Balvenie 17 Madeira Cask
This past holiday season was a great time to be an amateur whisky blogger. Marketing companies are into social media big-time these days. In addition to starting up Facebook pages, blogs and company-owned Twitter accounts, they’re reaching out to “real people” with these same types of accounts to get their message out. Around the same time I was contacted about receiving samples of JW Blue and Chivas 18 for review, I was contacted by a PR company representing The Balvanie, wondering if I was interested in trying out this year’s 17 year special release, finished in Madeira [fortified Portuguese wine] casks. Yes!
On December 23rd, a couple of weeks after I was told the sample would be shipped, a good sized package arrived that required signing. It was my sample, and I soon discovered why it had taken a little while to get here: the Liquor Fairy [amusing disclaimer mechanism from The Pegu Blog] had turned my small review sample bottle into a full 75oml retail bottle of The Balvenie 17 Year Madeira. Merry Christmas to me, and thank-you Balvenie! [Officially, it’s “The Balvenie”, but I’ll probably fall back on just plain Balvenie much of the time]
Tasting Notes
Ok, after 2 weeks of a head/chest cold followed by a couple of healthy days, and then a week with a stomach virus…here, finally, are my tasting notes on this Christmas present. Not that you were dying to hear my take on it, but it’s been frustrating for me.
The Balvenie Madeira Cask Aged 17 Years; 43%; 2009; $120
Nose: This is easy to nose, with the alcohol staying out of the way. Sweet spices hit me straight away. Cinnamon & sugar for sure, and maybe I’m influenced by other tasting notes I’ve read, but I’ll go with nutmeg as well. It’s also reasonably fruity. Perhaps some apple, but it’s more like baked apple, not a fresh/crisp fruit. Also more than a little raisin. Finally, a rich vanilla comes through, and as I pull away, just a hint of fresh oak.Note: On a couple of occasions, I felt there were some chocolate/orange on the nose, not unlike that part of the Dalmore 12 profile. However, the above notes represent a more consistent picture of what I’m getting from this bottle. Palate: More than most other whiskies I’ve tried, the nose prepared me perfectly for the mouth experience. Sweetness is quickly balanced by fruit and followed by the spices. There’s a bit of spicy tingle, but it’s pretty tame. I wouldn’t call this heavily bodied, but it’s not watery either.
Finish: No surprises on the finish. The taste just carries straight on through and slowly fades after a medium duration. Perhaps just a bit of added maltiness lingering at the end. With other Balvenies I’ve tried, there has been a little bitterness on the finish (not necessarily in a bad way), but there’s none of that here. There is some marginal drying on the finish.
Comments: I was struck by the consistent story this dram tells from first nosing to finish. That doesn’t mean it’s overly simple, though. While nothing particularly new was introduced on the palate and finish, nothing was really taken away from the multi-dimensional nose, either. This whisky is very smooth and accessible, and should appeal to a wide audience. Also, [not taste-related, but…] I love the Balvenie bottle shape. It makes a great glug-glug-glug sound when pouring. 🙂
Rating
- Score: 87/100 (B) I’ll still reach for a peated malt most of the time (even lightly peated like HP), but for a Speyside that’s not heavily sherried, this ranks pretty high for me.
- Bottom Line: Very impressive Madeira cask integration, providing an extremely balanced and accessible whisky. The Madeira finish provides some nice spices that you don’t get every day with a Speyside scotch, without blocking out the fruitiness of the spirit. Enjoyable from start to finish.
- Score higher if: You’re a big Balvenie fan to begin with, and/or Speyside is your favorite scotch region.
- Score lower if: It’s all about peat and/or big sherry for you. This one won’t change your mind about more subtle Speyside offerings.
- Value: This is definitely a step above the younger, very nicely priced Balvenie expressions. I think the Edinburgh Whisky Blog hit the nail on the head when they put this in their Christmas Gift Guide, as it would make an excellent gift, and appeal to both the occasional drinker and the connoisseur. At $120, though, I don’t see a lot of people buying this by the case. To consider the premium Bavenie expressions “values”, I’d want to see the Bavenie 21 year Port Wood come back down below $150, and these 17 year releases at or below $100.
Comparisons
Younger Balvenies
I did some direct comparisons with the 15 year Single Barrel and 12 year Doublewood Balvenie expressions. You can definitely taste the family resemblance when comparing to the Doublewood, which brings fresh apples, vanilla, some spices and a bit more oak to the nose. The Madeira takes this base profile to the next level. Everything is richer and smoother. There’s less fresh oak, but the vanilla is much richer. The 17 year also brings those additional spices from the Madeira cask. As for the 15 year, it’s got HUGE fresh oak. I like oak with stronger whiskies (Laphroaig QC comes to mind), but it’s almost too much for me here. I definitely like the way the finish tones this down in the 17 year Madeira expression. I also find the 15 SB to be much more “spirity” than the Madeira Cask, with the alcohol being more prominent on the nose.
Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban
My first dram of Balvenie 17 year Madeira immediately called to mind the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, a 12 year finished in port casks. Madeira and port casks, both having previously housed fortified wines, seem to offer similar contributions to the whisky, at least where the spices are concerned. I’d love to see a review of this expression by Serge over at Whiskyfun. He doesn’t seem to be a big fan of the Glenmorangie finished expressions. However, to my [admittedly much less experienced] palate, this finished Balvenie feels very nicely integrated and balanced. Much less “constructed” than the Glenmo bottlings. That being said, I like the Quinta Ruban very much, and it does manage to scratch the same itch for me that the Balvenie Madeira does at a 60% discount in price.
Other opinions
There even more reviews than this out there, but here are some that stood out to me:
- What Does John Know (Malt Advocate): – John was impressed by the balance of this whisky and awarded it a very impressive 90 points. I probably could have just copied and pasted his notes to represent my own findings.
- Dr. Whisky: The good Dr. considers this one of the best in the Balvenie 17 year series.
- whisky-pages: They also mentioned the shift from fresh fruit with their “stewed apples” reference.
- Edinburgh Whisky Blog: Definitely some different references in the tasting notes, but I can see where they’re coming from.
- Drinkhacker: An A- rating, but with a disclaimer that some might be put off by the Madeira finish. Perhaps, but I still think this is an amazingly accessible whisky.
- discover whisky: Why wasn’t I aware of this blog already? I really like their notes in this review.
Scotch Hobbyist's Blog 
This is up to your usual high standards, sir. I think I would like this bottling – especially if it was delivered by the Liquor Fairy!
Looking forward to more reviews now that you’re well again.
Cheers,
Jason @WHISKYhost
Thanks Jason, it’s good to be back to enjoying whisky again. Your latest post on the 30 year old tasting is aweome, BTW. What a great event!
Excellent review Jeff. How lucky are you guys in the US getting all those samples (and bottles!). i can only be envious. here in the whiskey desert that is known as Israel, i can only dream of those, since the whiskey scene is so small, and no one gives a two cent about what we buy.
i know Our friend Yossi is a big big fan of this one.
I have not tasted many madeiras but the Balvenie is a great one. just had the Penderyn (u have a bottle too), it would be nice to compare those 2 also.
Now that you are back on your feet (whisky wise), waiting for more of those…
Slainte!
Thanks Gal!
The Penderyn is on deck. As for comparisons…the Penderyn is a totally different animal from this Balvenie, as you probably gathered by comparing my notes on this to your Penderyn notes. 🙂
Cheers,
Jeff
Cheers for the mention of our blog at the end of your post. Sorry you haven’t came across our blog before – hopefully in the coming months you’ll be seeing a lot more of us 🙂
Yes, I’ll definitely be following your blog. I’ll be sure to add a link on my Whisky Resources page, too.
Thanks,
Jeff
This is a really nice one. A more vibrant less balanced, more complex dram along similar lines, is the recent Springbank 11 s/c c/s, which was matured entirely in a madeira cask. You say that you miss the peat when you drink speyside– well, as a springbank this one is lightly peated. Also it retails for 90-110. Check it out.
Good review btw. I really appreciate the extended comparisons to other similar products.
Hi Red,
I’ve enjoyed your comments on the WDJK blog (hope you enjoy that Ledaig!). Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world, and for the kind words on the review.
Thanks for the tip on the Springbank 11. Now that you mention that one, I recall that LFW listed it as their Whisky of the Year. I haven’t seen it locally yet, but I think it would be about $80 shipped from LFW. I’m going to have to check that one out…
Thanks,
Jeff
[…] Hobbyist reviews The Balvenie 17 Madeira Cask, calling it a consistent, but not simple […]
Nice score brother, and a great review too!
Thanks Richard. Have you tried this one? I thought you had done a review of it, but when I checked your site, that wasn’t the case.
I got to try it at WhiskyFest but I haven’t scored a bottle for a formal review. Maybe Matt needs to head to the liquor store. 🙂
Not sure we get this expression down-under…alas no surprises there. I must admit I have had a real curiosity for this whisky since I heard about it on WhiskyCast. This mainly stems from a mate (visiting from the U.S.) recently giving me a cask strength Balvenie 15yo. I also developed my taste for Madeira whilst living in NJ for a year. I haven’t seen the fortified wine offered down here yet, but neither have I checked many online retailers. Not sure where I am going with this, but just wanted to say great post and I am very envious. I know Glenmorangie did a Madeira cask but not sure its still in production. I really want to like this whisky…enjoy!
Secretary,
D.T.W.C.
Hi “Secretary”,
Such a super-secret decoder ring society you folks have going there at D.T.W.C. But then, I guess I’m using “Scotch Hobbyist” as an alter ego, too. I even took my last name off of the About page after my boss googled me and gave me a weird look when he saw all of this “whisky stuff.” 🙂
Thanks for checking out my post and leaving the comments. I’ve never tried Madeira myself, but I’m a little weary of it, as I’m not a fan of sherry. On the other hand, I LOVE sherry cask matured whisky. Go figure. I think the straight sherry is just too sweet and syrupy.
If you got last year’s 17 year Balvenie Rum Cask in Australia, I would expect you to get this one, too. It’s just now showing up here in AZ, and most places still just have the rum cask. I just got lucky getting my hands on this bottle when I did.
Thanks,
Jeff
If you receive promotional scotch samples from promotion companies, how can you be impartial in your review?
Can you honestly criticize a liquor that you receive for free? You might fear not receiving more.
Do you feel your judgment is colored?
Hi Clair,
That’s certainly a valid point. While I feel that I didn’t let it cloud my judgment, perhaps my judgment is clouded in that assessment. 🙂
I’ve only gotten the Chivas and Balvenie “samples” for free. I think there’s definitely an initial desire to want to please the people providing them. It was very exciting to get these.
One way I’ve dealt with that initial euphoria is to take some time to evaluate the whiskies before posting a review. To be totally honest, my first inclination upon receiving and trying the Balvenie was to rate it a couple of points higher. After a number of tasting sessions and comparisons, I came down a little bit. That being said, I’m not sure getting it for free had anything to do with the change.
My current plan is to just keep doing things the way I have been. I don’t represent myself as a professional (“Hobbyist” in the blog name). There’s no advertising or money-making links on my blog. It’s just me talking about my passion/hobby in an opt-in format, and meeting some great people with similar passions in the process. I also don’t market myself to distilleries in hopes of getting freebies. I’m not sure how The Balvenie and Chivas found out about me, or decided it would be worth their while to include me in their campaigns.
If a distillery offers me free whisky, I’ll probably take it. If I write about it, I’ll do like I did with this post and make the nature of my acquisition obvious right up front. This way, anybody finding their way to my post through Google will be warned and can move along if they don’t approve.
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff, you’re a class act to take the time and respond to my post and actually post it. I think you have a fair point when you say you are a hobbyist and not a professional.
Thanks Clair. I don’t know about class act, but I’m certainly not trying to hide anything. Thanks for stopping by my blog, and feel free to come back and keep me honest if it starts to look like I’m selling out.
[This comment brought to you by Cheezy Poofs. The perfect cheese-flavored snack to go with your evening whisky.]
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