Balvenie Burnside 27 Year (1991) Cadenhead’s Single Cask

Review by: TOModera

What was the occasion: I felt like drinking. I need to be in the right state of mind to have alcohol, as I’ve realized that trying to review while being anxious means no review and no whisky. And that makes me something something.

What whisky did we review? Balvenie Burnside 27 1991 Cadenhead’s Single Cask may confuse new whisky drinkers. Heck, it’ll probably confuse some “not constantly online” whisky drinkers. 

So the bottle says Burnside, which is what Cadenhead’s calls Balvenie that has been teaspooned with another whisky of equal or greater age. Thus the full barrel is ruined. Ahem, “ruined”. Well it’s not a single malt anymore, and thus won’t be allowed to be bottled as a Balvenie.

I like to imagine it happens when someone from Grants is walking along with a single teaspoon of Glenfiddich for someone to try and they trip and it goes flying right into the barrel, a la Charlie Chaplin. 

I have a lot of time on my hands, why do you ask?

So this is a 27-year-old totally Balvenie but totally not Balvenie that was aged in an ex-bourbon barrel and released by those crazy captains of industry at Cadenhead’s.

What’s the distillery? Burnside distillery was founded in 1825 and closed in 1924, which means it avoided the 80s, meaning that the surrounding buildings have less chance of being infested with copious amounts of cocaine. It’s now a parking lot for the local Campbeltown Creamery.

Balvenie, on the other hand, was founded in 1892 and is still around today. The distillery itself was founded by William Grant, near the Balvenie castle. And how often do you hear about that castle? Yeah, that’s what you gotta do: Become so great you outdo a castle.

What’s my bias? I like honey. I like honey a lot. I grew up in a family with rural roots (both sides) and one of my grandfathers was a beekeeper. I was fed honey way, way too young. Like “you’ll develop a bunch of allergies” young, though… wait a second, let me look that up… Nope, doesn’t cause allergies, turns out it can cause infant botulism and kill you.

Huh… well, I lived, so suck it other children, get good!

That was darker then it needed to be. Let’s move on with my bias.

I like honey, Balvenie has some honey notes, so I enjoy Balvenie a lot, even though they don’t release a lot of cask strength whiskies, even though I’m not the biggest Speyside nerd, and even though it’s a pricey whisky. But I like honey, so I like it.

Let’s see if I liked this one, shall we?

Distillery: Balvenie Distillery.

Bottler: Cadenhead’s.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 44.8%. Cask strength.

Age: 27 years. Distilled in 1991. Bottled March 2019.

Cask type: First-fill Bourbon Barrel.

Price: € 175 (EUR).

Color: 5Y 8/8

Nose: Guava, honey, banana, fennel pollen

Had honey, we’re good, gets a Honey/100 Honey, we’re all Honey here. Honey.

Oh, I should say more. Probably. Because Bees can’t read… yet.

Fruity, floral, some spice, and sweet. I enjoy the flavour off of this, and the tropical fruit elements. It’s a tad light, but Balvenie does that, so I kinda knew that going in. See bias above.

Taste: Honey tangerine, wood, cinnamon, bitter generic leaf

Honey fruit? Good times. I’m not a bee in a human suit, you are. Or a bunch of bees. No, I don’t know the lesser known Hulk comic villain Swarm, though I’m sure he’s very attractive and a great whisky reviewer.

Bit vegetal here, bit simple too. It’s always the tough part of older Balvenie whiskies and Balvenie adjacent concoctions: The whisky, from what I understand, enters the barrel at a lower abv. then other Scotch distilleries, thus after a lot of time you have less alcohol by volume to get those complex flavours.

Finish: Cotton, lime, grass, anise, wood, banana runts

More grassy, nice acidity, the spice is a bit hotter, and the banana is back. The finish is an apology for issues with the taste. Good times.

Conclusion: Honeyed fruit and wood, that simple people. It does what a Balvenie do, and it do it tasty. Worth giving up your stinger. Humans have stingers, right?

Look, my bias is on display here quicker than if I was some sort of cartoon bear, perhaps one that was in charge of a major superpower. I like honey, this has honey. I like winter spices, this has winter spices. I enjoy tropical fruit, because I like in a place where those don’t grow all over the place. That all works together here. There’s a dip in quality on the taste, but overall it was fun.

If you don’t have that bias, then I’d skip this. Yes, it’s very tasty. Yes, Balvenie made a good whisky, and no small amount of whisky will throw that off. But it’s been picked over by angels a bit too much.

Final Score: 83.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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