The Balvenie - Portwood 21 - Tasting Notes

At Whisky by the Sea I tasted this lovely Balvenie. Well tasted..? For more on that better have a look here for that story. Still my cheeks blush in a dark red colour when thinking of this moment...

Beautiful combination of the rich Balvenie notes and port wood. Fruit, honey, sweetness, vanilla and raisins come to mind first. Lovely full and warm dram.Enjoyed a dram and will sure be on the look out for this one to have at home. Lovely expression once again from this distillery!

Well... that was the story so far on this one, until we were at the distillery last year for a tour with friends. Due to us being the designated drivers we got permission to pour our glasses in little sample bottles to take home. So, here am I again with the Portwood 21. And now without spilling it :-)

What does The Balvenie first tells us about this expression before going to the tasting notes?

To create The Balvenie PortWood Aged 21 Years, a marriage of rare Balvenie is transferred to port casks, or pipes, which have held fine port wines. Here it is sampled regularly by The Balvenie Malt Master to ensure that just the right amount of character is imparted by the port casks, enhancing and developing the single malt whilst preserving its original characteristics. In duty free The Balvenie PortWood Aged 21 Years is non chill-filtered and bottled at a higher strength of 47.6% abv.

What do I find in this whisky? The nose and palate are both very much in balance and give me a fresh citrus note with creamy and sweet fruits. Lemon grass, macademia nuts, pomolo, honey, rich vanilla, raisin, red grapes, red apple, blackcurrant, red berries, and a soft note of some raspberries underneath. Bit of cherries and cranberry with toffee floating through it. Bit dry and darker note lingering in the back that I just cant put my finger on. There is a high chocolate note on the long finish filled with a tropical fruit layer. Lovely creamy sweet mouth feel left. This is a whisky that makes you smile when sipping it. Scoring it an 8 out of 10, and putting it on the wish list even more when looked at it more closely.