New editions of Balvenie
William Grant & Sons has just announced the release of three new Balvenie editions, two of which are for Global Travel Retail outlets and one for the UK market.
The following editions of Balvenie have been prepared, the latest of which is an edition designed for the British:
The Balvenie 15yo Madeira Cask, 43% vol.,
The Balvenie 18yo Pedro Ximenez Cask, 48.7% vol.,
The Balvenie 16yo French Oak Cask, 47.6% vol.
All three new editions initially went into American oak refill barrels. They were then transferred to Madeira, Pedro Ximenez sweet sherry and Pineau des Charentes fortified French wine barrels respectively.
The manufacturer did not provide information either on the length of the additional maturation period (so-called. wood finish), nor on the size of each edition.
Balvenie is one of those distilleries that extremely jealously defend their brand from the possibility of being bottled by independent distributors. For years now, the manufacturer has made every effort to ensure that whisky leaving the warehouses of William Grant & Sons and destined for brokers and blenders contains a small, literally symbolic admixture of whisky from sister distillery Glenfiddich. Such whisky, although it retains exactly the same organoleptic characteristics, is technically no longer single malt, as it contains a few drops of whisky from another distillery. Thus, we are dealing with a blended malt, a blend of two malt whiskies, and such can no longer be bottled under the Balvenie brand under any circumstances. This process, applied to all malts produced by William Grant & Sons, namely Balvenie, Glenfiddich, Kininvie and Ailsa Bay, is referred to as teaspooning. Such whisky is nevertheless sometimes bottled by independent distributors as blended malt whisky, not infrequently under the name Burnside, which is given to it already at Balvenie. The same applies to malts produced at the other distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons. Independent editions of full-flavored Balvenie - or Glenfiddich - in single malt form are extremely rare and prized by collectors as a kind of white raven.
The Balvenie distillery is the younger sister of the incomparably more famous Glenfiddich, and is located on the same distillery complex in Dufftown in the Speyside region. It was founded in 1892, six years after the launch of this first. It is one of the few Scottish distilleries where traditional floor malting of barley is still carried out, and the pagoda-shaped fan crowning one of the buildings here is not just a traditional architectural feature. Admittedly, unlike at least Laphroaig or Bowmore, no peat is usually used here to dry the malt, and the malt is dried with hot air, so the picturesque sight of white peat smoke coming out of the vents is out of the question. Currently, the distillery has a maximum production capacity of 7 million liters of pure alcohol per year, placing it near the top of the ranking of the largest malt whisky producers. The distillery also houses the mash house and fermentation vats of the Kininvie distillery, the physical form of which is limited to a relatively small building housing the alembic hall, located next to the Balvenie buildings.
The House of Whisky Online offers an extremely balvenie's wide range of whiskies, including one independent edition, once bottled by Signatory Vintage. Or at least it was at the time of preparing this material. A real treat for collectors. Please visit.
[24.03.2022 / Photo: William Grant & Sons]