Balvenie A Day of Dark Barley 26 Years Old 47.8% NV

Description

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Serge Valentin (91)

This is a single cask this time. They’ve been using roasted and chocolate malt here (90/10). Colour: gold. Nose: I find this much tenser, almost acerbic, with wonderful notes of citrons and grapefruits, as well as these manzanilla-y aromas that we all love so much (don’t we!) Wonderful, if a notch un-Balvenie at times. Isn’t Balvenie located on the West Coast? Even some fresh mint (rubbed leaves). Love it, really. Mouth: very coherent, fresh, tart, citrusy, extremely well balanced, with some rhubarb, kiwi, cider apples, pink grapefruits… And even drizzles of the best petroly rieslings from around Hunawihr and Ribeauvillé (just a little advertising for our own wine region if you don’t mind). Finish: idem, with a little more pepper and crushed stems. Wonderful freshness. Comments: I may have missed the roasted/stouty side that ‘should’ have come with this baby but I believe this is a perfect ‘deviant’ Balvenie, you would almost believe we’re somewhere on the West Coast indeed. More or less between Tain and Wick, see what I mean? But watch it, these are single casks and they may be a little different from each other.

BOW (93)