Review: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Years Old (2025)

This is our fourth round with The Balvenie’s DoubleWood — which is is a fancy way to say it’s bourbon barrel aged and finished in sherry, with a total age statement of 12 years. Consider it a check-in that follows up our coverage from 2022, 2017, and 2009.

The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Years Old (2025) Review

We’ve reviewed this whisky so many times because it so widely available: DoubleWood 12 can be found just about anywhere, from high-end cocktail joints to dive bars, making it an easy get if you’re in a bind over what to order.

The whisky has not much changed in recent years. As noted in 2022, the whisky leans heavily on the bourbon barrel, offering a nose with lots of sweet almond and banana notes, backed up by fresh cereal and granary characteristics. That said, it’s less overtly woody than I recall, coming across instead as rather grassy and hay-like. Citrusy sherry notes are present, but as more of an afterimage.

On the palate, again the whisky favors the bourbon influence, with ample vanilla dominating flavors of sweet breakfast cereal, namely Frosted Flakes. It’s extremely mild and approachable, though things can get a little leathery on the back end before the orange-driven sherry character finally appears. It’s mild and gently spicy, and nothing if not harmless. While not the most memorable whisky on the market, I expect you’ll finish your dram just fine.

86 proof.

B+ / $80 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

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