Head to head · same category, comparable price
Ardbeg Uigeadail vs The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old is the cheaper bottle and the dearer whisky: £166 a litre of pure alcohol against £158. That inversion is the whole of this comparison.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Ardbeg Uigeadail | The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Islay, Scotland | Speyside, Scotland |
| Age | No age statement | 12 years |
| Strength | 54.2% ABV | 43% ABV |
| Cask | Ex-bourbon cask, Oloroso sherry cask | Ex-bourbon barrel, Oloroso sherry butt |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £60 | £50 |
| Per 10cl | £8.57 | £7.14 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £158 | £166 |
| Chill-filtered | No | Not stated |
What separates them
Both from Scotland: Ardbeg Uigeadail from Islay, The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old from Speyside.
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old states 12 years; Ardbeg Uigeadail states none.
Cask as each producer describes it: Ardbeg Uigeadail in ex-bourbon cask and oloroso sherry cask, The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old in ex-bourbon barrel and oloroso sherry butt.
Chill filtration: Ardbeg Uigeadail is not, The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old does not say.
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Ardbeg Uigeadail is £10 dearer a bottle than The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old.
Strength reverses that: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old is £166 a litre of pure alcohol against £158.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Ardbeg Uigeadail is 20th cheapest and The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old 22nd cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Ardbeg Uigeadail | The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 9 | 0 |
| Sweet | 5 | 8 |
| Fruity | 4 | 6 |
| Spicy | 7 | 4 |
| Woody | 5 | 5 |
| Sherried | 6 | 6 |
| Cereal | 4 | 5 |
| Oily | 9 | 6 |
Furthest apart on peaty, 9 against 0, then sweet, 5 against 8. 4 of the eight axes clear 3 points: peaty, sweet, spicy and oily.
Identical on woody and sherried.
Each bottle in its own right
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Tar, raisin and smoked meat at 54.2%. The best-value cask-strength Islay there is.
A batched vatting, so the strength has varied slightly over time — 54.2% is the current stated figure, not a permanent one. Named after the peat-laden loch supplying the distillery's water.
Full record →The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old
Honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sweet without being cloying, and 43% helps.
Full record →Both listed for after dinner; only Ardbeg Uigeadail for value at cask strength; only The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old for gift.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Ardbeg Uigeadail and The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old: ardbeg.com, thebalvenie.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.