Whisky Focus - The Balvenie Reveals Two New 50 Year Old Whiskies

Just in case you are looking for ideas for which whisky to buy if you win tonight's £52 million Euromillions lottery jackpot I thought I would mention that The Balvenie have revealed not one but two new Balvenie 50 Year Old whiskies that certainly wouldn't look out of placed in a millionaires whisky cabinet. Both were matured for fifty years at the Balvenie distillery in the heart of Scotland. Both were filled from the same distillation into the same type of cask on the same day in 1963, despite identical origins The Balvenie tells me the two new single cask releases of The Balvenie Fifty are markedly different in character.

Both whiskies have lain quietly maturing in Warehouse 24 at The Balvenie distillery in European oak hogsheads since being filled on 28th May 1963. As most whisky drinkers will know it is very rare for any whisky to be matured for as long as 50 years as after so long in the cask the oak can sometimes overpower the whisky or the alcohol strength can drop below minimum 40% ABV strength required to be sold as whisky. Basically not many whiskies make it this many years in the cask but on a very very rare occasion one does but incredibly the Balvenie are releasing two bottlings which were filled from the same distillation into the same type of cask on the same day in 1963.

Amazingly after each whisky spending 50 years in its own individual European oak hogsheads cask it appears the angels have taken an almost identical share from each cask and the bottling cask strength of each is almost identical. The Balvenie 50 Cask No. 4567 was bottled at 45.4% ABV and is limited to 131 bottles and The Balvenie 50 Cask No. 4570 was bottled at 45.9% ABV and is limited to 128 bottles.

Commenting on the release of these two bottlings, the longest-serving Malt Master in the Scotch whisky industry, David Stewart, said: "The effect of maturation on the final character of a whisky is widely known and becoming better understood, yet it still has an air of mystery around it. It’s rare that one fifty year old whisky has aged beautifully over time, but for two that were distilled on the very same day to mature into such exceptional expressions is something very special.

"Although beginning with the same origins, cask number 4567, given that it is a single malt, has a deep reddish hue and a beautifully full taste characterised by dark fruits and spice, expected of the European oak cask in which the whiskies were matured. The Fifty Year Old from Cask number 4570 is different, with a rich golden hue and a remarkable elegant oak and vanilla sweetness.

"Both are among the most complex, elegant and fine whiskies ever to be released from Warehouse 24, the home of our oldest and rarest whiskies."

The two whiskies are both bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and have an RRP of £26,500 and will be sold through specialist retailers such as The Whisky Exchange. Both expressions have been handfilled at The Balvenie distillery into hand-blown glass bottles and are presented in two very special wooden cases. Handmade by Scottish craftsman Sam Chinnery, the cases consist of forty-nine layers of wood and a closing layer in brass, which echoes the fittings of the distillery’s stills and spirit safes. Just like the whiskies, one box is darker in colour than the other and which are works of art - and craft - in their own right.
 

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