Balvenie 14yo Caribbean Cask
ABV: 43% ABV
Price: £50.95
Distillery
Owners - William Grant & Sons (one of few remaining independent family firms)
Location Dufftown, Speyside
Water source Robbie Dubh.
Stills 4 x wash still and 5 x spirit still
Capacity per year 5,600,000 Litres pa (big)
1892 – (131y) Balvenie whisky was founded by William Grant
Built alongside sister distillery Glenfiddich
Grow own barley for malting on their thousand-acre farm, Balvenie Mains, overlooking the distillery. Operate a working floor maltings, one of only a handful left in Scotland.
David C Stewart MBE - longest serving Malt Master in the Scotch whisky industry; he decides which casks can be bottled after 12 years, those that will be perfectly finished in oak, or the rare ones that will mature on to become 21, 30 and beyond.
Started work at The Balvenie distillery in 1962 at the age of just 17. During a 12-year apprenticeship, he mastered the complex skills required to create the very finest single malt whisky.
I encouraged you to visit the Balvenie website – thebalvenie.com
Whisky
Matured in traditional American oak casks for 14 years, and then ‘finished’ in a number of casks that previously held Caribbean rum - Malt Master’s own blend of select West Indian rums.
Colour:
Nose: The aroma is rich with notes of tropical fruits, namely passion fruit, and creamy toffee.
Palate: Sweet vanilla forms a creamy palate with notes of apples and mangoes with a hint of orange in the background.
Finish: The finish lingers with a vanilla focussed character.