Scotch and Soda, Mud in Your Eye.....

My wife, just back from Scotland, wanted to bring back a bottle of Balvenie Doublewood Scotch she had tried on her trip. “It was wonderful”, she exclaimed, “but hard to bring back because it didn’t work in the one liter bag you are allowed for liquids, so it couldn’t come back carried on and therefore it had to travel in her luggage. This would add weight, and in the end her suitcase weighed 48.5 pounds, just a pound and a half below the limit. As well, if it broke in transit, it would have ruined a lot of clothing including a beautiful hand knit sweater she had just purchased for herself. She also had to take it on two planes, one from Edinburgh, Scotland to Newark, NJ, and another from Newark, NJ to Buffalo, NY, giving it another opportunity to break.


The Balvenie Doublewood Single Malt Scotch Whisky is a 12 year old single malt which gains its distinctive character from being matured in two woods. During its period of maturation The Balvenie Doublewood is transferred from a traditional oak whisky cask to a first fill Spanish oak sherry cask. Each stage lends different qualities to the resulting single malt - the traditional casks, having previously held bourbon, soften and add character, whilst the sherry wood brings depth and fullness of flavor.

The Malt Master, David Stewart, whose signature appears on each of the Balvenie bottles, enthuses on this aspect "The Balvenie's high quality is down to the traditional way of making malt whisky... it's this seamless transition through generations of creativity and craft that has preserved The Balvenie’s consistency in producing such delightful drams."

The price at the duty-free in Edinburgh was 36 pounds. Translated into dollars it’s about $57. The price on line in the UK from the factory seems to be 29.95 pounds, or about $48. In the US, on line, its $64 delivered. She was concerned that she would not be able to find it at the US border Duty-Free in Niagara Falls or in Canada at the LCBO. As well, if she found it, what would the price be, given the travel costs? However, clear heads won out and she left it in Scotland and hoped to find it here.

On the way back from the airport yesterday we found it at the duty free. The price, $41.

The video is Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio singing Scotch and Soda in 2007.