|
The Balvenie
launch the Balvenie Stories range, three
single malt whiskies each of which is
said to bring its own interesting story
to whisky drinkers.
The Balvenie has announced the launch
of the The Balvenie Stories range, a
collection of three single malt whiskies
each of which is said to bring its own
interesting story to whisky drinkers.
The three new whiskies are - The
Balvenie The Sweet Toast of American
Oak, aged 12 years, The Balvenie The
Week of Peat, aged 14 years and The
Balvenie A Day of Dark Barley, aged 26
years.
The Balvenie The Sweet
Toast of American Oak is a 12 year old
whisky and a permanent addition to the
Balvenie core range, bottled at 43% ABV
and with a RRP of £45 it is said to be
the story of the spectacular things that
can happen when ancient technique meets
fresh ideas, as newly appointed
Apprentice Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie
experimented with twice-toasted white
American oak from Kelvin Cooperage in
Louisville, Kentucky to produce an even
fruitier, sweeter tasting Balvenie.
The Balvenie The Week of Peat, aged 14
years is a permanent addition
to the existing Balvenie core range of whiskies,
bottled at 48.3% ABV and with a RRP of
£65 it is said to be an evolution of The
Balvenie Peat Week Aged 14 Years, which
launched globally in 2017. From what I
can make out it is the same whisky as
the original Peat Week we are familiar
with it has just simply had a name tweak
and packaging change to fit in with the
new Balvenie Stories theme. The story
behind The Week of Peat expression is
that it tells the tale of Malt Master
David Stewart MBE and former distillery
manager Ian Millar using a week’s gap in
the distillery’s production schedule to
experiment with the use of peat in the
barley drying process. The result is a
classic Balvenie expression with honey,
vanilla and citrus notes with an extra
layer of delicate smokiness.
The
Balvenie A Day of Dark Barley, aged 26
years will have limited availability
given its age, bottled at 47.8% ABV and
with a RRP of £600 it is said to be the
story of Malt Master David Stewart MBE
and The Balvenie’s malt men
experimenting with a heavily roasted
dark barley in 1992. The resulting
liquid was originally released back in
2006 as the outstandingly complex,
barley sweet, Balvenie Roasted Malt 14
Year Old, however casks were retained
for extra maturation, eventually
becoming a classic aged Balvenie, but
with extra depth and oak notes gleaned
from the darker malt.
Commenting
on the release of The Balvenie Stories,
The Balvenie Malt Master David Stewart
MBE says: "Stories are the lifeblood of
The Balvenie distillery. They make up
the fabric of who we are and what we do.
The Balvenie Stories collection tells
these tales in liquid form, giving
whisky drinkers across the globe a
special glimpse into the unique and very
human nature of how we produce our
whisky. Each expression in the
collection reflects this by telling its
own story via first-hand accounts and
recollections of the many people
involved."
Following the liquid
launch, in autumn 2019 The Balvenie will
launch a book titled Pursuit – The
Balvenie Stories Collection. Edited by
award-winning author and journalist Alex
Preston and published by internationally
renowned independent publisher Canongate,
this collection will contain a series of
fiction and non-fiction short stories,
by renowned writers from around the
world. Authors include internationally
best-selling writer Lawrence Osbourne,
award-winning British author Max Porter
and many more.
The
Balvenie Stories range will be available
in China, Taiwan, Korea, SE Asia,
Australia, USA, Canada, France,
Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium,
Netherlands, Nordics and of course here
in the UK where it will be available to
purchase from specialist online whisky retailers such
as
The Whisky Exchange,
The Whisky Shop and
Master of Malt
|
