Cover The Balvenie Fifty Collection (Photo: The Balvenie)
The Balvenie Fifty Collection (Photo: The Balvenie)
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Tatler+
The Balvenie Fifty Collection, which celebrates the interwoven stories of craftsmanship, launches with a trilogy of the rarest whiskies. The narrative begins with a special cask, 8720 from 1973, singled out by Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie for its true Balvenie character
In the summer of 1973, Cask 8720—one European oak refill Oloroso sherry butt—rolled into The Balvenie Distillery in Dufftown, Speyside. It was, by all accounts, simply another day at work. But through a combination of extraordinary people and many extraordinary crafts in the five decades since, we can today savour the creation of The Balvenie Fifty, a trilogy of some of the rarest single malts to reach our modern palates.
Charlie Metcalfe, global brand ambassador for The Balvenie, swung by Singapore to give an exclusive preview of The Balvenie Fifty to a select audience at The Distillers Library by William Grant & Sons. Metcalfe himself has been part of the story at The Balvenie for 13 years, first as distillery ambassador for eight years and then moving into a global role, which also includes looking after new product creations. All of which gives him a unique insight into Cask 8720, as well as the people and stories behind the scenes, as Tatler found out.
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Above The First Edition of The Balvenie Fifty Collection highlights the remarkable depth and complexity imparted by European oak cask ageing, while preserving The Balvenie’s signature sweet honey character—even after 50 years of maturation
The First Edition of The Balvenie Fifty Collection highlights the remarkable depth and complexity imparted by European oak cask ageing, while preserving The Balvenie’s signature sweet honey character—even after 50 years of maturation
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To understand The Balvenie Fifty, it is best to start at its source. The distinctive taste and character that is found in The Balvenie is borne from the five rare crafts that makes it the most handcrafted of single malts: growing its own barley, using traditional floor maltings, having coppersmiths and coopers on site, and the malt master.
David Stewart, who started at The Balvenie in 1962 as a stock clerk and was to become its malt master in 1974, would innovate the technique of cask finishing at Balvenie in the 1980s, which went on to revolutionise the Scotch industry. Stewart is the longest serving malt master in the Scotch world and only retired in 2023, handing over the reins to his protege Kelsey McKechnie.
McKechnie began as apprentice malt master in 2018, just 26 then, and is now bringing new stories to life through the guardianship of casks that lay in Balvenie’s warehouses. Identifying a cask as special and as old as Cask 8720 is part of what McKechnie excels at. As Metcalfe recounts, “Kelsey gives us her vision of what she might want to bottle in the next few years, and we see what would work for the current space. It’s absolutely amazing to work with her and see how she manages a flavour bank of 50 years and more. I can always tell the ones that she's particularly excited about, and Cask 8720 is particularly special flavour-wise, with the sweet honeyed character in spades.”
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Above The Balvenie Fifty Collection is further enhanced by a bespoke packaging by Croglin. Each one comprises over 100 different elements such as four layers of wood in the helix structure, as well as a 14 carat gold plated brass display
The Balvenie Fifty Collection is further enhanced by a bespoke packaging by Croglin. Each one comprises over 100 different elements such as four layers of wood in the helix structure, as well as a 14 carat gold plated brass display
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“There are a lot of skeptics out there because these whiskies are expensive,” Metcalfe replies when asked about the rarity of the liquid. “But we would never put anything into a bottle that wasn’t exhibiting incredible flavour. Kelsey has been tracking the cask for the last few years to make sure we got to a point where the flavour was there to bottle. 50 years old seemed an appropriate time.”
Metcalfe also highlights Kelsey’s right hand man, George Paterson, the warehouse manager who is her “boots on the ground” at the distillery. “George goes out to look at the samples, which Kelsey will request for fairly regularly, to check the flavour and see where it’s going.”
Tag-teaming with Jyri Pylkkänen, regional malts brand ambassador for Southeast Asia, the two ambassadors gave a lively presentation leading up to the First Edition, the first of The Balvenie Fifty trilogy. Its packaging contains over 100 precision-made elements made by craft workshop Croglin in Cumbria, finished with 14-carat gold plated brass. As with liquids of this rarity and age, expect delicate and caramelised notes of fruit and cassis, layered under cedar and nutty spice,with hints of soft vanilla and a delicate ginger spice.
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Above Malt master Kelsey McKechnie
Malt master Kelsey McKechnie
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The Second Edition comprises an American oak hogshead cask filled in 1973 that will be married to the first edition, while the the Third Edition will include a third American oak barrel filled in a 1974 cask, linking the thread from Cask 8720. Just 125 bottles will be available of each edition, to be released annually over three years.
“The 1970s were fairly incredible times for the distillery. I’m quite biased, but it’s some of my favourite vintages the distillery has done. I can’t really explain why, but a lot of the flavours that were created within that period are just absolutely remarkable. We must also remember that this cask has survived the 70s, 80s and 90s which, as it turns out, was a tumultuous time for whisky. Particularly in the 1980s, stock was going into blends and going to bottles rather over-aged. And this one has made it through all of that,” Metcalfe concludes, dram in hand, as we sipped in homage to the summer of 1973.
Discover more at www.thebalvenie.com.
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Images: The Balvenie
