Balvenie Peat Week 14 Year (2003 Edition)

Nose: Earthy peat smoke with some medicinal notes. Yet, plenty of sweet, floral characteristics remain, not overwhelmed by the smokiness. Butterscotch, vanilla, honey, and lemon. Apple, apricot, and a significant cantaloupe note. Spearmint. Despite the peat, many of Balvenie's signature qualities manage to stand out. As it sits in the glass longer, a smoked meat/BBQ aroma becomes more apparent. Salted caramel. Very pleasing. Palate: The smoke is more intense here than on the nose, immediately present. Honey, vanilla, apple, and melon come to the forefront after the initial smoke subsides. Oaky. Dark chocolate and milk chocolate notes are also present. Some menthol and medicinal qualities. Rich salted caramel. A ballpark soft pretzel. Pencil shavings. Finish: The warmth returns on the finish. Initially, it's a fiery cinnamon spice. This is followed by smoked meat, ribs, and bacon. Heavy smoke throughout. The influence of oak makes itself known during this phase. Vanilla and sugar cookie notes are also detectable. Pencil shavings. Red pepper and black bean chili provide heat. A long finish. Overall, this is a solid whisky. I have yet to encounter a peated Speyside that revolutionizes the category; and while this one is enjoyable, it doesn't quite achieve that. It's notably different from Islay/Island whiskies, and while good, it doesn't quite reach the pinnacle. The nose and finish are its strengths, while the palate feels somewhat disappointing sandwiched between them. It's a commendable effort from Balvenie, but considering the price, I need a bit more impact to justify a higher score. I'm giving it a 4.25, down from the 4.5 I anticipated before a final tasting. I've heard great things about the 2002 vintage and will definitely look for the 2004 when it's released. If you're an Islay drinker seeking a change, consider trying this. It's quite good. Edit: I let this sit for a couple of days and re-tasted it. I'm increasing the score to a 4.5. The palate is better than I initially gave it credit for, which aligns with some of my earlier impressions. Excellent whisky from beginning to end. It's expensive, but you get good value for the price. Edit 2: Revisiting this six and a half years later. The palate is a much more prominent aspect of the whisky. I can now detect more of the subtle complexities at play. Excellent.

Oh, Balvenie! You pretentious bastard, you. Your prices have always scared me a bit and your whisky almost always fails to deliver at that high price point (yes, there certainly are exceptions). So, why do I keep buying your stuff? Well, because you make whisky and I am most certainly a whisky drinker. Balvenie switches over once a year, for a single week, and makes a peated expression. They then age the stuff for 14 years in ex-bourbon oak and release it as Balvenie 14 Peat Week. No need for quirky, Gaelic names here. This is the 2003 vintage and it was bottled at 48.3% ABV in 2018. It runs just shy of $70 at most sensible retailers. Hey! A reasonably priced Balvenie- who’d have thought that? Let’s delve into this one, shall we? Who was hoping I’d ask a third successive, rhetorical question? It’s a beautiful, golden yellow and very oily in the tasting glass. Undefined legs and medium-sized drops form and run slowly away from the rim when you spin it a bit. The nose is quite fruity right out of the bottle. Rich smoke and BBQ fire rise up to greet you and there’s no burn to be found. Buttery bread and vanilla sweetness round out the nosing and invite you in for a sip. The palate is BBQ brisket, sweet honeyed smoke with serious orchard fruits balancing out a wonderful mouthfeel. Luxuriously smooth and warm right where and when it counts. The oiliness coats all the corners of your mouth and linger on well into the finish. The finish has a somewhat short feel because the ABV is so well hidden. The sweetness and smoke work well enough to keep this from being too peaty (if there is such a thing) and that same smoke keeps it from being too dessert-like. I could sip this dram well into the depths of the bottle in a single sitting. I’ve had so many Balvenie offerings that I’ve decided to stop buying them and focus solely on the Peat Week vintages. These are much better than the sherry cask stuff (although I haven’t had any of the Uber-Rare Tun bottles). The $68 price I paid is beyond reasonable and there’s great value for your money here. If you like your peated whiskies a little subdued but well-balanced then this could become a go to bottle for you. Plus, you can actually brag to your friends about the Balvenie name here and pretend that you paid a lot for it, while actually not. Win/win. 4.25 stars, leaning close to 4.5. Good stuff. Cheers.

Ah, Peat Week - you were the unexpected highlight of the 2018 scotches for me. But does it still hold up? Nose - Gentle smoke drifts from the glass, sweet and candied smoke, yet remarkably clean. In contrast, the 2004 "week of peat" offers a more malt-forward character with possibly more wood influence. The 2003 is all smoke, a touch of mint, with the sweetness subtle in the background. Taste - Soft initially, introducing a light malt, handled with grace and subtlety. The whisky then shifts, and the smoke intensifies, saturating the mouth with a very clean, almost "Balvenie"-esque smoke. Peat Week delivers the peat levels expected from major Islay producers, yet achieves it with a quintessential lightness characteristic of a Balvenie malt. This iteration of Peat Week is soft, gentle, and allows the malt to enhance the smoke rather than stand out. Compared side-by-side with this year's release, the malt is much more prominent, assertive, and somewhat interferes with the smoke. I've believed since my first tasting that no whisky is more dangerously drinkable; even when pouring, I find myself exceeding a single ounce (most of my reviews are based on a quarter ounce and involve whiskies I've tried before). This is a scotch one can truly CONSUME, and there have been days I've done just that. I rarely purchase more than three bottles of any scotch in the last two years, with the exception of Woodford Double Oaked, any whisky. I acquired five of these, and this is my fifth bottle. I am utterly captivated by this whisky. It feels unusual to assign such a high score to a 14-year-old whisky, but 4.5 out of 5. I seriously considered this for my top whisky of 2018, and for the first half of the year, it was the leading contender. This is a prime example of how superior balance can elevate a whisky. This might very well be my favorite peated single malt, even when compared to Ardbeg 23 and 22.

It has a pleasingly deep honey color with an orange tint. Not very viscous – thin and generally lacking in legs. Notes of orange juice, medicinal smoke, clover honey, watercress, raw barley, and a hint of mushroom. A distinct sweetness ties everything together. The nose remains sharp no matter how often you revisit it, yet it continues to draw you back in. Some petrichor offers a sense of familiarity and comfort. It begins with sweetness that develops back into orange juice, followed by a bitter rind. Honestly, it tastes like sweet orange bitters (perhaps Fee Brothers?) before the underlying phenols emerge. A touch of cooked carrot and coriander, but overall, a persistent, tangy sweetness. Bell pepper. It's somewhat like burning grassland. Some playful floral notes and honey become apparent throughout. To be honest, the freshly opened bottle was a bit too sharp initially, but that settled down quite quickly after about a quarter of the bottle was consumed. I can't say this was definitively worth $100, but it is a quality dram – well-crafted and quite flavorful, and I'd say it's distinct from Islay peat, albeit in subtle ways. I know I won't encounter this specific release again, but I won't hesitate to try future releases given what this one offered.

After reading many excellent reviews and finding it for $70 at Specs, I decided to purchase it. Non-chill filtered and 96.6 proof, this spirit is fantastic! Poured neat, the aroma is wonderful. Salt-cured bacon and the smell of smoke from an electrical short are the first things that come to mind. Malt and aged wood follow, along with vanilla frosting and cake batter. A smooth mouthfeel leads to a palate of smoke, golden toasted marshmallows, and salty malt with varnished oak. It's quite savory, and the balance is superb. The finish has BBQ pit smoke with wood chips and drying malt, hinting at roast coffee. The flavor is rich but fades faster than I'd prefer. Still, it's complex and delicious, so I plan to ration this bottle. If you enjoy Islay whiskies (this is Speyside but has an Islay-like profile), grab this; you won't be disappointed... 94/100... much more refined than the standard Lap/Ard, and the bottle improves the longer it's open.

I often find Balvenie to be overpriced and hard to get into. I'd heard about their "peat week" releases but didn't have much hope, especially since I don't usually agree with the positive opinions on their other bottles. HOWEVER, THIS IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. This 2003 vintage, bottled at 48.3% ABV, is an outstanding pour and completely lives up to the buzz. On the nose, there's a fantastic earthy peat, salt, iodine, aged oranges, and smoke, definitely more reminiscent of a Highland Park than a Balvenie. On the palate, it's robust. All the other Balvenies I've sampled are typically muted. But this one packs a punch. Toffee, an immediate hit of wasabi. Extremely SPICY. Red chili peppers. Toffee and sweetness return on the second taste. The finish is salty and ashy. Truly enjoyable. Overall, I'm giving this dram a solid and fair 93 out of 100. A truly great whisky.