Until recently, the only peated Balvenie we had were the long gone limited edition Balvenie Peated Cask 17 Year Old (which I reviewed a few years ago) and the Islay Cask 17 Year Old. But states has changed recently with two new peated Balvenies, both 14 year old expressions, were released to markets. The first is a Triple Cask 14 Year Old for Travel Retail market and a globally released 14 year old named Peat Week as Balvenie produces peated whisky for one week a year (and not every year), naturally called named ‘Peat Week’.

Today I’m checking out the Peat Week 14 Year old that was distilled in 2002 and has been aged in American Bourbon oak for 14 years.

Balvenie Peat Week 14 yo 2002 Vintage (48.3%, £56.95/$99.99)

Nose: Like all Balvenies I had tasted to day, it has that soft nose I associate with Balvenie and this time it’s full of sweet honey and gentle peat, then sweet fruit – citrus, pears and peaches and finally soft nuttiness.

Palate: Strong nuttiness blended with peat smoke, sweet honey, pears, gentle oak spices and sweet peat. Very velvety.

Finish: Short length, humming  sweet honey, oak spices and peat smoke.

Thoughts: It’s a pretty good Balvenie, although it’s not overly complex. Here we have a meshing of the Balvenie profile with deep rooted peat to create the correct way to have a peated Balvenie (unlike the 17yo peated cask). Bottom line: good sipper and recommended to those who wants to enjoy both worlds.