portwood pleasures

landed in singapore and bought a balvenie double wood. the funny thing about the red dot is that you can buy a litre of hard liquor/spirits together with a litre of wine and another litre of beer as your duty-free entitlement upon arrival.
no questions asked. but you cannot buy anything if you are coming from malaysia.
the reason is clear. thousands cross over by land, sea and air daily between the two countries. imagine the amount of alcohol that could be smuggled and consumed between both neighbours. well, i for one would reach out and polish off a bottle of anything just waiting in line at the singapore immigration checkpoints at the border.
enough said about that. the balvenie double wood is a great single malt. and i am slowly imbibing it just as i did a few weeks ago at no black tie while watching rafique rashid perform songs old and new.
but even better than the double wood is the balvenie portwood 21 years old which i had the pleasure of at least a couple of wee drams at a friend's house.
the 40 percent alcohol by volume smooth single malt is creamy with a sweet bouquet of honey and nuts, showing off the maturity that only 21 year olds can have.
the colour of honey, the single malt is matured in oak casks before it spends time in port casks that have held port wines previously, hence the inherent sweetness.
by the way, the balvenie portwood 21 year old was awarded a prestigious gold medal at the 2005 international spirits challenge which pretty much reflects it pedigree as a great malt.
the palate is soft and sweet like cream with a bit of oakiness that quickly dissolves into a soft sweet finish.
if you like port, you'll love the portwood.