Review #18 - Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask

Rum Cask Finish Mini-Series: Part 2 of 3

Part two in our series of rum cask whiskies, and this time we're in Scotland with Balvenie. A Speyside giant, this is one of the better known brands in single malt Scotch, especially as people are first entering the hobby. Here, we'll look at their 14 year aged stated single malt, specifically a bottling that has some finishing in Caribbean rum casks.

Balvenie is known for trying some experimental cask finishes, as well as a few other unusual projects for a classic Speyside distillery: each year, they spend one week distilling from peated malt, and part of their core range releases includes single barrel bottlings. This 14 year CC isn't quite that strange or unique, but it still provides an interesting niche to explore further.

Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask

Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt

Current Locally Available Price: USD 90 (2023)

Age Statement: 14 Years

Strength: 43% ABV

Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon, finished in Caribbean rum casks

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 13 months; bottles at 90%, 60%, and 50% fill level at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: On the sweeter side overall, some brown sugar, cereal notes, a bit creamy. Vanilla flowers, a bit of sweetened condensed milk, and soft oak is there but not very bitter. Really, it's somewhat soft in general, with caramel sugars, some white wine, and later, a touch of leather and hint of ethanol.

Palate: Palate starts of slightly more dry than expected, actually, still on the soft side; mouthfeel is medium-thin. The notes of vanilla and cream, caramelized sugar and mild oak linger from the nose, but then we're in new territory: touch of char, coconut, and instead of brown sugar, now it's more like simple syrup or maple syrup. There is also a bit more fruit on this palate: pineapple and underripe pear, as well as banana bread. All topped off with a bit of cinnamon baking spice.

Finish: Light and nicely sweet, sweeter as it goes on, but slightly short in length; the cinnamon spice from the end of the palate lingers, as well as some maltiness and a more distinct rum cask signature. Plenty of sugary creamy cereal notes, almost sickly sweet at times. Late in the palate, a hint of darker fruit like plum.

Final Note: This is nice and pleasant, not really going to offend anyone with its sweeter mellow notes. Decent stuff, but maybe a bit too soft? Would be a good casual sipper, but might not have the complexity that leads to more interesting exploration of flavors. On top of that, the price has been rising on this bottle, a bit too fast; while it has a decent age statement, the depth and intricacy that should come from the maturation period isn't quite there, which makes this a slightly tough sell.

Our Average Rating: 6.8 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.34