At For Peat' Sake you are the whiskey expert. All of our whiskey reviews have been submitted by whiskey drinkers like you who want to help others by sharing their experiences. We encourage you to help us grow by signing up and reviewing the whiskey you drink.
The Balvenie Portwood 21 Year Old Reviews
- Distillery
- The Balvenie
- Style
- Single Malt
- Release
- Unspecified
- Age
- 21 Years
- Alcohol
- 40% abv.
- Region
- Scotland, Highlands
- Bottled For
- Distillery
- Buy Now $154.09 WineChateau.com
- see all offers
To create The Balvenie Portwood 21 Year Old, rare 21 Year Old Balvenie - which has been matured in traditional oak casks - is transferred to a port cask, or pipe, which has held fine port wines. Here it is sampled every month 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.
The Balvenie Portwood 21 Year Old
Review by Dramiel McHinson
- Color
- Dark Straw
- Nose
- The nose is first floral like Honey Suckle with a hint of fine oiled leather and cooked fruit. Later there is a soft nutty cereal note with some oak tones.
- Body
- The body is smooth with a medium texture that coats the tongue.
- Palate
- On the palate the whisky is first sweet like cooked fruit with a hint of spice. The portwood is there in full strength taking control and giving the palate a drier oaky taste.
- Finish
- The finish is medium duration first on dry oak getting more nutty like pecan shell as it fades, the last note is a hint of the port wine that rested in the barrel prior to Balvenie taking up residence.
An enjoyable dram with good mix of light fruit and floral tones mixing with the heavier oak and cereal notes. The portwood sweetness is there to keep time with the symphony of flavors.
The Balvenie Portwood 21 Year Old
Review by MP
- Color
- Bronze
- Nose
- slightly peaty, oak wood, fresh honey.
- Body
- Full bodied, but smooth. creamy
- Palate
- almond nuts, fresh cream, slight peat. Slight sourness, but lots of floral aromas.
- Finish
- A pleasant moderate finish. warm.
This whisky is excellent, very smooth, and great with portwood finish, hint of sweetness, but the Doublewood 12 years is slightly better - tastier and gives a wider variety of floral scents.
The Balvenie Portwood 21 Year Old
Review by ColoradoDram
- Color
- Medium amber.
- Nose
- Flowery over all else. Water opens up vanilla , nuttiness, and winey oak.
- Body
- Full bodied, very oily.
- Palate
- Sweet raisins, heather, dry wine.
- Finish
- Very warm, very long, and extremely dry.
Best served neat (like most Balvenies). This is mature, refined, and consistent, but I'll take the inconsistencies of the 15 year Single Barrel on depth of character alone. Thank goodness I bought this in taster size, because there are much better values out there for dry wine finishes.
The Balvenie Portwood 21 Year Old
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Burnt orange
- Nose
- Wood, smoke, citrus and flowers.
- Body
- Heavy, but not harsh.
- Palate
- Lots of sweet port, smoke, freshly-squeezed oranges. It gets even better at the bottom of the glass.
- Finish
- The finish is extremely dry and long-lasting. Like smoking a good cigar.
Wow. This is what Scotch is all about--and I've tried a lot. The flavors and aromas are extraordinary.
The Balvenie Portwood 21 Year Old
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- amber-honey
- Nose
- vanilla bean-bourbon, sweet grains, oak
- Body
- medium body, smooth, little oily or a slight syrup feel
- Palate
- lightly sweetened honey dipped candy fruit on the delivery (tip of the tongue), warm green peppercorn feel on the mid palate
- Finish
- nice finish, warm vanilla-bean oak aftertaste
