The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 year Single Malt

Every time I try a new scotch I learn something. The more I drink, the more I learn. Sounds wrong, but it's true.

I have very few friends who drink whisky. In fact, only three do. That doesn't leave too many opportunities to talk about or try new ones. I asked a friend what her favourite scotch was at the moment. The Balvenie DoubleWood was her quick reply. The packaging leaves no mystery as to where the name DoubleWood comes from. It has been matured in two different casks; 12 years in traditional oak whisky casks, followed by a few months in European oak sherry casks.

When my parents returned from Florida, they bought me a bottle of The Balvenie DoubleWood at the Duty Free. One litre bottle, $50.

On the nose I detected a fruity, slightly strawberryish note. It was sweet and very warm.

The taste was similar. It was fruity and sweet, a little bit like honey-covered strawberries and apples, along with a hint of wood. It sounds contradictory, but it has both rich and mellow qualities. A splash of water brought out more "fruit salad."

The finish was long. It was sweet but dry (the sherry), very mellow and a bit nutty & smoky. It's excellent all around, but if I were stuck on a desert island, I'd probably take Auchentoshan Three Wood.

What I've learned is that I tend to like whiskies with a sherry finish. I'm looking forward to trying everything in the current Balvenie lineup, and anything else David Stewart dreams up.

DoubleWood is like a no-nonsense DeLorean. It's not a flashy turbo and it hasn't been lowered. But it has all of the updates done and no cracks in the dash.

Duty Free: $50
1 litre
43% (86 proof)

www.thebalvenie.com

World Whisky Day 2012

Tuesday March 27, 2012 was the first ever World Whisky Day (despite the fact that it's also the 5th "International Whisky Day", a lower-key celebration, started by friends of the late revered reviewer Michael Jackson).

It trended on Twitter and the website even crashed! The idea was simply for people to get together and enjoy some good whisky, anywhere in the world. What's better than that?

Although that was a rhetorical question, it actually has an answer; a contest!

The prize offered is a bottle of Whyte & Mackay 30 year old blended whisky. It's not available at the LCBO so I checked a few websites and found its value to be between 137 and 162 British pounds. That's nearly $300 Cdn. Not too shabby!

And the contest isn't over yet. In fact, it hasn't even started. Deadline for submitting a photo was March 31st. Now, the folks at World Whisky Day are going to upload the photos to the WWD page on Facebook. The five photos with the most 'likes' will then be judged by Whyte & Mackay’s Master Blender, Richard Paterson.

I decided to invite a few friends over and don my old Bender costume for a photo op. After all, Bender is fuelled by alcohol so it seemed appropriate. So what does Bender drink? Well, he definitely enjoys The Balvenie Doublewood. And so did the meatbags. Happy World Whisky Day! Or International Whisky Day!