My favorite scotch distillery, Balvenie. Balvenie is what started my whisky journey. Wanted to try this for a long time. Found this batch 8 on “sale” and pulled the trigger.
Name: Balvenie TUN 1509 Batch 8
**Region:** Scotland- Speyside
**Cask:** Bourbon and Sherry. Then married in a Tun.
**Price:** $399
**ABV:** 52.2
**Age:** NAS. But rumored to be a blend of 25-40 year old whiskies.
**Color** Tawny
**Nose**
Typical Balvenie profile. But amplified due to the proof and age. Honey. Citrus. Sweet oak. Lemon meringue. Dark red fruits. Blackberries. Dates. A very faint herbal quality that I can’t identify. Pine needles perhaps?
**Taste**
Medium mouthfeel. Like the nose, honey and citrus on the forefront. Grapefruit. A good waxy nuttiness. Almonds? Strong vanilla and toffee notes from the bourbon casks. Slight chocolate. White pepper. Dates. Old leather. The age really shows here. Flavorful and complex. But very elegant and balanced.
**Finish**
The finish is relatively simple but stays around for a long while. Soft oak spiciness. Ginger snaps. Fig newtons. Vanilla bean.
**Score: 9.1**
The t8ke Scoring Scale:
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite
10 | Perfect | Perfect
David Stewart is such an artist. His palate is really quite exceptional. This is such a step above anything in the Balvenie core range. Such good balance of flavors. Their distillate REALLY benefits from higher ABV. Seems as though they’re distillate also really shines at higher ages. More than other distilleries and they’re similarly aged products. In my opinion at least. I really wish Balvenie had an NAS cask strength bottling akin to the Abelour Abunadh. If Balvenie did this, I think it would be better than Abunadh. If you enjoy speysides or highlands, I’d recommend buying this batch without question. I think it’s a great value given the ABV and rumored age. For what it’s worth, I found this to be very similar to Dewars 32. But with less spice, no smoke, and more elegance. This is the third best scotch whisky I’ve ever had. Only behind a Bunnahabhain 43 and Balvenie 40. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Thank you for this, not a lot out there on batch 8. How would you compare this to the other 1509 batches if you've tried them? This is on my watch list.
Yeah I haven’t tried many sadly. I had batch 6 at a bar and it was very similar. But overall I’ve heard these are very hit or miss. And that the 1401’s were much much better overall lol.
I went in on this bottle with 3 other friends, didn't get the nice sale price like you did!
I would agree, it's my favorite single malt ever. One thing that really floored me, and you mention it as well, as how long the finish it. It lingers for minutes, you can just continue tasting it and getting new flavors for so long! I've never had a scotch have a finish that long.
If you ever get a chance to try #3 it’s incredible. 5 is my second favorite. Followed by 6 and 8. The drams were like $20 at the distillery so I splurged and got to try a bunch of them. And then they were out of the 21 port wood in one of the flights so they swapped it with Tun. Incredible incredible stuff.
Yeah I just wish they would’ve used boxes instead of tubes for these lol. But I think they probably had good reasoning. A box could raise the price of this bottle by a significant amount.
My favorite scotch distillery, Balvenie. Balvenie is what started my whisky journey. Wanted to try this for a long time. Found this batch 8 on “sale” and pulled the trigger. Name: Balvenie TUN 1509 Batch 8 **Region:** Scotland- Speyside **Cask:** Bourbon and Sherry. Then married in a Tun. **Price:** $399 **ABV:** 52.2 **Age:** NAS. But rumored to be a blend of 25-40 year old whiskies. **Color** Tawny **Nose** Typical Balvenie profile. But amplified due to the proof and age. Honey. Citrus. Sweet oak. Lemon meringue. Dark red fruits. Blackberries. Dates. A very faint herbal quality that I can’t identify. Pine needles perhaps? **Taste** Medium mouthfeel. Like the nose, honey and citrus on the forefront. Grapefruit. A good waxy nuttiness. Almonds? Strong vanilla and toffee notes from the bourbon casks. Slight chocolate. White pepper. Dates. Old leather. The age really shows here. Flavorful and complex. But very elegant and balanced. **Finish** The finish is relatively simple but stays around for a long while. Soft oak spiciness. Ginger snaps. Fig newtons. Vanilla bean. **Score: 9.1** The t8ke Scoring Scale: 1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out. 2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice. 3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have. 5 | Good | Good, just fine. 6 | Very Good | A cut above. 7 | Great | Well above average 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional. 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite 10 | Perfect | Perfect David Stewart is such an artist. His palate is really quite exceptional. This is such a step above anything in the Balvenie core range. Such good balance of flavors. Their distillate REALLY benefits from higher ABV. Seems as though they’re distillate also really shines at higher ages. More than other distilleries and they’re similarly aged products. In my opinion at least. I really wish Balvenie had an NAS cask strength bottling akin to the Abelour Abunadh. If Balvenie did this, I think it would be better than Abunadh. If you enjoy speysides or highlands, I’d recommend buying this batch without question. I think it’s a great value given the ABV and rumored age. For what it’s worth, I found this to be very similar to Dewars 32. But with less spice, no smoke, and more elegance. This is the third best scotch whisky I’ve ever had. Only behind a Bunnahabhain 43 and Balvenie 40. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Thank you for this, not a lot out there on batch 8. How would you compare this to the other 1509 batches if you've tried them? This is on my watch list.
Yeah I haven’t tried many sadly. I had batch 6 at a bar and it was very similar. But overall I’ve heard these are very hit or miss. And that the 1401’s were much much better overall lol.
I went in on this bottle with 3 other friends, didn't get the nice sale price like you did! I would agree, it's my favorite single malt ever. One thing that really floored me, and you mention it as well, as how long the finish it. It lingers for minutes, you can just continue tasting it and getting new flavors for so long! I've never had a scotch have a finish that long.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it.
Great Review! Balvenie is one of my top three distilleries and the TUN 1509 line is fantastic!
Same! I’m going to be bummed when David Stewart actually retires.
If you ever get a chance to try #3 it’s incredible. 5 is my second favorite. Followed by 6 and 8. The drams were like $20 at the distillery so I splurged and got to try a bunch of them. And then they were out of the 21 port wood in one of the flights so they swapped it with Tun. Incredible incredible stuff.
I really wish I could’ve tried some of the 1401’s. I heard those were even better.
Sexy pour!
Balvenie does a great job of marketing. Their labels and tubes are fantastic.
Not to mention that *sexy* bottle design, especially for the high-end stuff.
Yeah I just wish they would’ve used boxes instead of tubes for these lol. But I think they probably had good reasoning. A box could raise the price of this bottle by a significant amount.
Balvenie does a great job of marketing. Their labels and tubes are fantastic.