Today I am raising a glass to the Balvenie Malt Master, Davd Stewart, with the Balvenie Peated Cask 17 year old single malt Scotch whisky. In honour of the Queen presenting him with a MBE medal.
This was in honour of his services to the Scotch whisky industry. He is the longest-serving Malt Master in the world. An amazing 54 years in the industry. What an amazing achievement!
David was born in 1945 in Ayr in Scotland and started his career at the Balvenie Distillery in 1962 on a 12-year apprenticeship, aged 17. He was appointed as Malt Master in 1974. David was one of the first people to experiment with cask finishes during the 1980s.
This experimentation led to a few of my favourite Balvenie expressions. Releases such as the Balvenie Doublewood, Balvenie Caribbean Cask, The Balvenie Roasted Malt and the Balvenie Portwood. The Balvenie distillery is part of the William Grant stable of brands.
Malt Master David Stewart
This week, in honour of this great man of whisky, we try the Balvenie Peated Cask 17 year old whisky – another of his “experiments”. Released during 2010, the whisky was aged traditionally, to begin with, but finished in a cask that previously held peated whisky.
Back in 2001, The Balvenie did a heavily peated malt run that was then aged in ex-bourbon barrels. At some point, the spirit transferred out of the American Oak barrels and into new casks to continue its maturation.
It is into these now empty-cask that David poured some 17 year old Balvenie to see what would happen. To further enhance the whisky, David then blended it with some similarly aged Balvenie finished in new charred oak.
The result – the Balvenie Peated Cask release. Unfortunately, this was a limited release and is not available anymore.
Balvenie Single Malt Whisky is produced by William Grant & Sons Ltd. Founded by William Grant in 1886 and today still an independent family-owned distiller run by his direct descendants.
Also Read: Macallan 15 year old whisky
The Balvenie Peated Cask 17 year old Whisky Review
REGION: Speyside
ABV: 43%
COLOUR: Liquid golden sunshine.
NOSE: Rich and creamy with very subtle hints of peat. There are notes of candied sweets and fresh fruit with hints of vanilla, cinnamon sugar and butterscotch sweetness.
PALATE: A riot of contrasting flavours. Initially, there are heaps of peat mixed with some smoke and ashy notes followed by spicy sweetness. The next layer has juicy fruitiness with bits of honey and cinnamon spice.
The Balvenie Peated Cask single malt has an interesting flavour development profile. The addition of water brings smoothness to the whisky and makes it easier to drink. It softens some of the ashy smoky and brings forward the sweetness.
FINISH: Long and lingering and warms you up from the inside. It ends in notes of smoky fruity sweetness.
RATING: EXCELLENT
This expression is certainly not the usual Balvenie style. It’s unusual and different. However, it does a fantastic job of standing out as something unique.
This peated expression will probably not appeal to traditional Balvenie lovers. It also has too little peat intensity for Islay lovers. However, this is a unique and interesting whisky, made by a man who is not scared to try something new. A whisky as unique and interesting as the man who created it – David Stewart.
Also Read: Kininvie 17 yo Whisky
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