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I'll Drink to That! What is your favorite beverage to have with a cigar? Juice? Cola? Beer? Port? Single Malt Scotch? This room is for the discussion of beverages, especially alcoholic beverages that go well with cigars!

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Old 01-20-2017, 01:40 PM   #1
grtrx
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Balvenie Caribbean Cask

Quite a lot of vanilla and rather sweet (makes sense give the rum cask finish after 14 years on oak). Really fruity stuff. Very little peat. Might be a scotch to try for those who prefer bourbon and rum. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.
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Old 01-20-2017, 02:35 PM   #2
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As a 'door opener' for anyone not previously familiar with Balvenie, this one works (albeit it at a price). There's plenty of the trademark distillery character in terms of honey and spice. That said, it hasn't 'sent any shivers up my spine'. (And I've gone through a couple of bottles of it.)

The old Founders Reserve 10YO, not to mention the Single Barrel 15YO and Portwood 21YO (which is profiled in my latest A Rich Pour article), were/are superior as far as I'm concerned.
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Old 01-21-2017, 02:58 PM   #3
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21 year old Balvenie is still my benchmark for this brand.
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Old 01-23-2017, 06:06 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flipflop View Post
21 year old Balvenie is still my benchmark for this brand.

(...with the Single Barrel not far behind)
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Old 01-23-2017, 08:15 AM   #5
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21 year old Balvenie is still my benchmark for this brand.
it has gotten hard to drink... because of the price tag
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Old 01-23-2017, 08:16 AM   #6
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As a 'door opener' for anyone not previously familiar with Balvenie, this one works (albeit it at a price). There's plenty of the trademark distillery character in terms of honey and spice. That said, it hasn't 'sent any shivers up my spine'. (And I've gone through a couple of bottles of it.).
I really cannot get my head around it compeltely. It is very much Balvenie, but it seems just not quite right somehow
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Old 01-23-2017, 10:02 AM   #7
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It is very much Balvenie, but it seems just not quite right somehow.
I feel that this is a very illustrative instance of where the Rum cask finishing process doesn't help in terms of maintaining or enhancing the complexity factor. And if there's one characteristic I look for in any Balvenie expression (beyond the trademark honeyed spice), it's complexity.

That said, the Caribbean Cask bottling does pair very nicely with sweets.
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Old 01-23-2017, 11:29 AM   #8
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it is, for lack of a better term, a desert scotch. It goes really well with caramelized pineapple.
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Old 01-24-2017, 08:47 AM   #9
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...a desert island scotch...
Fixed that for you.
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Old 03-04-2017, 01:45 PM   #10
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Had a couple of pours of the Balvenie. I liked it enough to go out and get a bottle. I rather enjoy their scotch, but I'm hard pressed to spend the money on their other now famous casks.

Thanks for the review!


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