THE BALVENIE - 14 ans - The Week of Peat - 48.3%
The Balvenie Distillery is located in the Speyside region of Scotland. It is one of three distilleries on William Grant's Dufftown site, along with Glenfiddich and Kininvie. After twenty years, Grant quit his job at the Mortlach Distillery and bought a field near Balvenie Castle. He drew up the plans for his distillery and the first stone was laid in the fall of 1886. At the beginning of 1892, work began to transform an 18th century mansion (Balvenie New House) into a distillery. After 15 months, on May 1, 1893, the first distillation took place at the Balvenie distillery. The three distilleries at the Dufftown site use the same water and malt and have very similar production methods, but produce three very identifiable malts. For much of its history Balvenie has served primarily as the source for William Grant's blends, but more recently production has focused on demand for its Single Malt, with only a small proportion going into the blend of the Monkey Shoulder. The distillery is known for its range of finished expressions in different types of wood.
Balvenie's Malt Master is David C. Stewart MBE. He started working at The Balvenie Distillery in 1962, at just 17 years-old and dedicated 54 years of his life to the Scottish whisky industry. His pioneering techniques have had a profound impact on the production methods used today; he is renowned for his innovative work, particularly around "cask finishes". In 2016, David received an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The collection of Balvenie Stories compiles tales of character, effort and craftsmanship around Single Malt whisky. Each whisky comes with an audio book that brings the story behind each expression to life, through a series of conversations between the makers of The Balvenie and Gemma Paterson, The Balvenie's ambassador to the world. The Week of Peat tells the story of the very first week of peat at the distillery in 2002. After visiting the original field where their farmer grew the first batch of barley which was kiln-dried during the malting, Gemma, along with maltster Robbie Gormley and brewer Brian Webster, discuss the treatment of peated malt at the distillery, which became engulfed in intense peat smoke as well as a crowd of onlookers.
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