【The only distillery in the Scottish Highlands that still grows and malts its own barley】
【The only distillery that retains the Five Rare Crafts of whisky making】
ZTSC051 - The Balvenie 16 French Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Special Price: $1480/piece
Region : Speyside, Scotland - Single Malt Whisky
Alcohol : 47.6%
Volume : 700ml
The Balvenie 16 French Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky marks Balvenie's first use of Pinot Noir casks for cask finishing. The whisky is first aged in traditional oak casks for at least 16 years, then finished in Pinot Noir casks for several months for a second maturation. Balvenie 16 Year Old French Pinot Noir Cask offers a classic honey base, accented with sweet floral and fruity notes such as grapefruit, geranium, delicate candied fruit, and young ginger. The finish is refreshing and smooth, leaving a lingering and captivating aftertaste.
【Balvenie】
The Balvenie is located in the Speyside production area of Scotland in the United Kingdom. It is the only winery in the Scottish Highlands that retains The Five Rare Crafts made by whiskey.
In 1892, William Grant established The Balvenie Distillery in the disused Balvenie New House, the distillery is owned by William Grant & Sons Ltd. Whiskey began to be brewed on 1 May 1893. After William Grant's death in 1923, his son John Grant took over the distillery and made its first expansion. In 1929, the distillery replaced the original malting process with the traditional floor malting method, which is still used today. David Stewart started working at William Grant & Sons Ltd. in 1962 at the age of 17. During his 12 years as an apprentice, he mastered the art of making some of the finest single malt whiskeys and became The Balvenie's fourth distiller in 1974. Grandmaster. In 1983, David Stewart conducted the first consecutive trials of maturing The Balvenie whiskey in two different types of casks, which later became known as 'Finishing'. The liquor brewed by this method is the later Balvenie Classic Series. As the longest-serving Master Distiller in the Scotch Whiskey Card business, David Stewart knows whiskey like the back of his hand.
In Whiskey brewing, The Balvenie adheres to the five extraordinary techniques and adheres to the traditional production methods. First of all, The Balvenie insists on producing its own barley and is the only brewery in the Scottish Highlands that still grows and malts its own barley. Every year, the distillery grows barley in Balvenie Mains. Except for the combine harvester used when harvesting the barley, the rest of the links follow the traditional artificial planting method, which is one of the reasons for the uniqueness of the Balvenie single malt whiskey. In addition, The Balvenie has its own Malting Floor, which is very rare in Scotland.
The distillery steeps the barley in spring water before laying it out on traditional malting beds, which are manually turned by maltists. The malted barley is transferred to a kiln where it is dried using anthracite coal with a moderate amount of peat to enhance the blended taste of The Balvenie whiskey. In addition, the still used in the distillery is also very unique. There is a protruding ball at the bottom of the swan neck curve, which is called "Balvenie Ball". The neck of the Balvenie whiskey bottle also retains this design feature. This design allows the steam more time to mix before rising to the top. The shape and size of the copper stills are two crucial factors affecting the taste of The Balvenie whiskey, and the distillery has a dedicated team of coppersmiths to carefully maintain them. At the same time, the distillery also pays great attention to the preparation and maintenance of wooden barrels, and has a dedicated team of coopers to handle them, which plays a vital role in the taste of The Balvenie whiskey. Coopers moderately toast the barrels, converting the wood sugar into caramel and allowing the "pores" of the barrel to fully open. All year long, they restore, rebuild, fill and seal distillery casks with exquisite craftsmanship. Finally, the master distiller of the distillery, the famous David Stewart, has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and is familiar with the aging process of each cask, which is also an indispensable and important factor for The Balvenie to brew top-quality single malt whiskey.
