The official Balvenie core range includes the standard 10yo 'Founders Reserve',
the 12yo 'DoubleWood', the 15yo 'Single Barrel (shown in the picture at the left),
the 1989 'Port Wood', the 17yo 'Islay Cask', the 21yo 'Port Wood' and... erm...
the 25yo 'Single Barrel' I think. (See the Balvenie website for the current range.)

The Balvenie distillery in Dufftown (not to be confused with
Balvenie castle shown in the picture at the right) was built
in 1892 by W. & J. Grant, owners of the Glenfiddich distillery
nearby. More than a century later they are still 'sister stills',
owned by the very same company that originally built them.
When the distillery was built in 1892 it was outfitted with
second-hand still from Lagavulin and Glen Albyn. This might
seem a bit odd at first, but the use of second hand stills is
actually not that uncommon. These days Balvenie has no
less than eight stills (four wash stills and four spirit stills);
two of them were added in 1965 and one in 1971.

As you can see at the left, the official bottlings are beautifully designed.
Well, actually, official bottlings are all you are likely to find - the 'brand' is jealously
protected and just like with Glenfiddich, independent bottlings are very rare indeed.
That being said, I've tried an excellent Cadenheads bottling of a 31yo Glenfiddich
and the malt maniacs found some independently owned casks of Balvenie as well.
These are exceptions, though. Ordinarily, each cask of Balvenie or Glenfiddich that
is sold to brokers or blenders is 'polluted' with a minute quantity of the other malt,
making it a 'vatted malt' - a.k.a. blended malt - and thus illegal to sell as a single.
The whisky isn't sold under the official name either; 'Wardhead' is the name for
Glenfiddich with a dash of Balvenie while 'Burnside' is Balvenie with Glenfiddich.

Balvenie 10yo 'Founders Reserve' (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 1995, 70cl)
Nose: Wonderful bouquet. Honey! Minty? Somewhat dry with a hint of old raisins.
Taste: Sweet and smooth; gently flows through your mouth. Easily drinkable.
A very nice malt, but not quite as noble and complex as it's older brothers.
Score: 82 points - I could definitely recommend this to everybody.

Balvenie 10yo 'Founders Reserve' (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 1997, 70cl)
Nose: Reminds me of the Abba song 'Honey, Honey'. Pleasant. Creamy.
Soft fruitiness - sultana's. Something faintly nutty? You have to work at this malt.
Taste: Creamy and quite sweet. It's mighty likeable, but it seems a bit shallow.
Score: 81 points - just a fraction less recommendable than an earlier expression.

Balvenie 10yo 'Founders Reserve' (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2003, 70cl)
Nose: Creamy and sweetish. Spices. Christmas cookies? A narrow spectrum. Rich. Hint of peat?
It opens up with time. Did they perhaps increase the number of young casks in recent vattings?
Taste: Flat, Gritty start. A little thin. Definitely some brine in the centre. Tongue-coating.
Bittersweet burn. Sweetish, warm finish. It slowly recovers some points after a weak start.
Score: 77 points - above average but a few steps down from earlier batches from the 1990's.

Balvenie 12yo 'Doublewood' (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 1995, 70cl)
Nose: More sherry and old fruit than in the 10yo. Honey. Wonderful complexity.
The complexity grows even further after adding some water. A joy-ride for the nose.
Taste: Sherry. Nutty sweetness. Dark chocolate, Peppermint? Complex with great development.
Amazing balance. What a wonderful all-round single malt - I could drink this all evening.
Score: 86 points - highly recommendable. And the bottle is just so beautiful...

Balvenie 12yo 'Doublewood' (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2001, 100cl)
Nose: Sweet and nutty start. Some sherry. A little alcoholic. Fruitier and woodier with time.
Seems just a little more restrained than I remember - less fresh sherry influences these days?
Taste: Fruity sweetness mixed with minty freshness. Intruiging sherry notes - plenty of them.
Very sweet, but different kinds of sweetness appearing one after another. Excellent.
Score: 85 points - still hightly recommendable; it keeps in shape over the years.

Balvenie 12yo 'Doublewood' (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2003, 70cl)
Nose: Aaaah.... Sherry and organics. Marzipan. Furniture polish. Wood. Still going strong...
Fruit sweets. Something spicy around the corner. Never a dull moment with the Doublewood.
Taste: Woody start. Sweet, full-bodied centre. Malty. Sherried. Spicy finish. I love this stuff.
Score: 86 points - unlike many other 'standards' of the 1990's it stays in tip-top shape.

Balvenie 1989 'PortWood' (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2003, 70cl)
Nose: Wow! Rich and balanced. Fairly similar to the Doublewood, but not as expressive.
Marzipan. Lemon? Very nice, but I can't find the port. Nothing like the 'Morangie Port.
Taste: Smooth and sweet start. Solid, fruity centre. Coffee? Not very complex.
The finish grows slightly winey and woody - maybe that's the port influence?
Score: 83 points - a recommendable malt but I would have liked to see more port.

Balvenie 15yo 1980/1996 'Single Barrel' (50,4%, OB, Cask #15986, Bottle #152)
Nose: Very soft, considering its strength (50.4%). This one needs just a little water.
Honeyish and woody; oilier and much lighter in character than the 12yo Doublewood.
Taste: Almost fruity at first, then a honeyish sweetness. Interesting development.
A peppery 'Allegro' followed by a neverending 'Adagio'. Best experienced neat.
Score: 84 points - recommendable, but I prefer the 12yo DW myself.

Balvenie 15yo 1985/2002 'Single Barrel' (50.4%, OB, Cask #286, Bottle #177)
Nose: Honey sweet. Spicy. Surprisingly light and fruity. Tangerines? Organics as well.
Smoked ham? Raw string beans? Lavender? A 'wider' profile than earlier batches.
Taste: Sweet and fruity - like fruit cake. Full bodied centre. Good mouth feel.
Pleasant prickle. A very long woody finish, maybe just a tad too woody for me.
Score: 83 points - quite different from an earlier cask, but just as lovely.

Balvenie 17yo 'Islay Cask' (43%, OB, serie of 94 casks, Bottled +/- 2001, 70cl)
Nose: Soft and sweet. Honey. Toffee. Something doesn't fit. It seems a bit restrained.
The Islay part doesn't show itself for a few minutes - and when it does it hardly 'screams'.
Taste: Rough. Unbalanced. Little depth. Solid centre. Very dry, especially in the finish.
Score: 76 points - decent, but I see no justification to pay 100 Euro's for a bottle.

Balvenie 21yo 'Port Wood' (40%, OB, Bottled 1997, 70cl) 
Nose: Oemph! Very rich; smells almost like a C/S at 40%. Pipe tobacco and incense?
Sweet, but less honeyed than the younger bottlings. Amazing complexity and development.
Taste: Round and full palate. Great mouth feel. I couldn't really detect the port here, though.
Very woody, and more so after breathing. Make sure to empty the bottle quickly after opening.
Score: 87 points - this has been my #1 Balvenie for over a decade. Fabulous stuff.

Balvenie 25yo 1974/2000 'Single Barrel' (46.9%, OB, Cask #15208, 70cl)
Nose: Wonderful perspective - very subtle. Sweet with late fruits and chocolate.
Balanced without supressing any of the individual elements. A malt to get lost in.
Taste: Very soft and accessible. Extremely fruity - maybe a tad too much. Long finish.
Score: 84 points - an interesting alternative perspective on Balvenie.
 
 
 

I've actually tried one of these vattings - although I'm not sure which one.
The 'Burn of Speyside' 6yo 1996 vatted malt is sold in Holland by Van Wees.
They've added a charming little story about a sunken ship (a la Whisky Galore)
but research from Robin Brilleman has shown that it was just a 'fender bender'.

And after having sampled it I can say that this 6yo old
vatted malt whisky can't hold a candle to the older, official
bottlings of Balvenie - or to Glenfiddich OB's for that matter.
I haven't tried a bad Balvenie yet and its sister distillery
Glenfiddich seems on the way up as well. An old 'Over 8yo'
expression bottled in the 1960's was much better than any
Glenfiddich from the 1990's (except the 15yo C/S perhaps),
but the third millennium looks promising again for Big Fiddich.

Trivia about Balvenie: A 50yo Balvenie from 1952 was released in 2002; after half a century cask #191 still produced 83 bottles. The recommended retail price of these bottles was a whopping 6000 GBP.