single barrel malt

the doublewood 12 year old is just one of the many single malts from the balvenie as the speyside distiller is one of the few able to coax the malt to bring out a plethora of pleasures and passion for the single malt connoisseur.
and thus just weeks ago, the few of us came across an excellent bottle of the single barrel 15 year old in a kuala lumpur pub. it was also one of many occasions for us to drink the night away in great company days after the malaysian general elections.
the single barrel single malt is drawn from a single cask of a single distillation which produces a maximum of 350 bottles. this basically means that each bottle is quite unique and unrepeatable, and comes with its own hand-numbered labels to denote its singularity and rarity.
so with great pleasure we opened the 47.8 percent alcohol by volume 70cl bottle. the yellow gold liquid swirled and a fragrant vanilla with hints of honey aroma filled the smoky and sweaty pub. nice, said one. great, said another.
the honey continued in a sip of the wee dram with spicy notes and a robust oakiness permeating in the smooth single malt. there was sweetness comparable to the sweet spot of a golf or a tennis ball that would suggest a great day.
the finish was smoky with a great peatiness that immediately demanded a refill and before long, the bottle was emptied. we would long for another bottle soon to relive, to a certain extent, the vanilla, honey and oaky notes that underscore this wonderful single malt.