I have had to deal with some health issues recently so I haven’t been reviewing whiskies, and really not drinking all that much to be honest. But during my hospital stays while my gallbladder and intestinal ulcer caused by the gallbladder were being resolved, a dear friend and fellow lawyer dropped off a bottle of the Balvenie Caribbean Cask Finish scotch at my office as a get well present. The Balvenie is a Speyside distillery, meaning that while technically a Highland scotch, the water is sourced from the region around the river Spey; this region of Scotland does not peat their whisky. The Caribbean Cask Finish is aged for 14 long years in ex-bourbon casks and then finished for an undisclosed amount of time in ex-rum casks. Given that the British admiralty included rum mixed with water when provisioning their ships (aka grog), rum casks would be fairly easy to come by in the UK in the past. So, the use of rum casks for finishing of scotch makes imminent sense. This whisky is 86 proof. Balvanie is owned by William Grant & Sons, which also produces Glenfiddich and Hendrick’s Gin. It is one of the few family owned distilling companies left in Scotland. The Balvenie distillery is only one of seven distilleries in Scotland where all of the crafts that go into scotch, growing the barley, malting it, fermentation, distillation, and a cooperage for barrels are all on site. While grain to glass is trending in the whiskey world, Balvenie has been doing grain to glass from the get go in 1892.

The color is a proper straw like color, which I appreciate given that it means no coloring was added to the whisky. On the swirl is a big thick film with big thick long legs; this is a very viscous oily whisky. On the nose is big big big malted barley with some fruity notes, both citrus and pome. On the palate is creamy barley malt with some lemon, green apples, pears, with some background vanilla notes. I am having a hard time identifying exactly what the rum casks contributed here, as the flavors are pretty well in line of what I appreciate about a scotch long aged in ex-bourbon casks; maybe the subtle vanilla notes come from the rum casks. As a 14 year old Speyside single malt this is a solid pour. I had Catherine try it and she is picking up some coconut/tropical flavors on the palate that likely come from the rum casks. When I give this whisky a ten second long chew I do pick up those flavors, but they are really subtle given what I had to do to find them. On the finish, the malt and fruit begin to yield to oak with some light baking spice and molasses in the background. Despite being relatively low proof compared to most whiskies I drink, this finish is extremely long and lingering. This whisky really is a malty flavor bomb with a really thick rich mouthfeel. I would describe the rum cask influence as subtle; inasmuch as if I wasn’t told it was in there, I would simply say this is an excellent single malt long aged in ex-bourbon casks.

This is a truly lovely single malt scotch, and I can’t even remember the last time I tried it. Glad this was gifted to me so Balvenie could be back on my radar.