About The Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch #8 Single Malt Scotch Whisky
The Balvenie is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, owned by William Grant & Sons. Balvenie started producing whisky in May 1893, fifteen months after William Grant started converting an 18th-century mansion, the Balvenie New House, into a distillery. Grant, who got his first job as a cattle herder at the age of seven, worked his way up from a bookkeeper to manager at the Mortlach distillery, where he stayed for twenty years, learning the distilling trade. Grant remained with the Balvenie company until his death in 1923 at the age of 83. In the same year, his son, John, began the first expansion of the distillery. In 1929, the original maltings were replaced with the traditional malting floor still used today. The Balvenie is the only distillery in Scotland that still grows its own barley, uses traditional floor maltings, and keeps both a coppersmith and a team of coopers on site.
David C. Stewart began working with William Grant & Sons in 1962, at the age of 17, and twelve years later he became the fourth Malt Master of The Balvenie in the distillery’s history. In the 1980s, Stewart first experimented with maturing The Balvenie in two different wood types in succession, creating the process that would later be called finishing. In 2010, the distillery launched Tun 1401, the first of the Tun range in which Stewart selects some of his favorite rare casks from the oldest warehouses. Nine batches later, in 2014, the series was replaced by Tun 1509. Stewart received his MBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 2016 for his services to the Scotch Whisky Industry.
Batch No. 8 is the 8th and final release in the popular Tun 1509 series. Malt Master David Stewart MBE selected 18 casks to be married in a large oak vessel for 3 months. 4 of these 18 were ex-bourbon casks, 6 were 2nd-fill sherry butts, 5 were refill puncheons, 3 were 1st-fill sherry butts. It's a rich whisky of intense flavor with notes of citrus tart, orange marmalade, maple syrup, toffee, vanilla, and honey that is bottled at 104.4 proof.
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About The Balvenie
Born into poverty in December 1839, William Grant became a cattle herder at the age of 7 in order to supplement his family's income. As a teenager, Grant apprenticed as a cobbler and a clerk, and in 1866, he joined Mortlach Distillery as a bookkeeper. For the next two decades, Grant managed the affairs at the distillery, while secretly learning the art of distillation. In 1886, he resigned from his position as distillery manager and bought a field beneath the towering shadows of Balvenie Castle, which he eventually converted into The Balvenie Distillery. Today, The Balvenie Distillery, situated in the Speyside region of Scotland, remains one of the most prestigious independent distilleries in all of Scotland.
The Balvenie Single Malt Whisky is made from fresh, plump barley grown on Balvenie Mains, a 1,000 acre farm situated adjacent to the distillery (the farm has been the distillery's source for barley for over a century). After the barley is harvested, it is malted at the distillery with spring water sourced from the rolling Speyside hills that overlook the distillery. During the malting process, the barley is turned up to four times a day in order to ensure that it germinates evenly (The Balvenie is the only single malt Scotch whisky distillery that continues to grow and malt its own barley).
Once the barley has been malted, it is milled and mashed at the distillery before being fermented using a proprietary strain of yeast. Following fermentation, the wash is distilled twice, first through Balvenie's copper-pot wash still and then again through its copper-pot spirit still. "The most important reason for using a copper still," explains Dennis McBain, Balvenie's coppersmith, "is that it acts as a catalyst. It removes any sulphur which may be carried over from the fermentation process prior to distillation."McBain, who joined Balvenie Distillery in 1959, is one of the oldest coppersmiths remaining in the industry.
In addition, the size and shape of Balvenie's stills — the stills' necks have unique boil balls that are nicknamed "Balvenie Bowls"- results in Balvenie's signature bold and malty flavor profile. "The size and shape of the boil ball allow for the vapors to mix before continuing up the head," explains McBain. "That helps make The Balvenie special."
About Scotch
Scotch is the most popular whisky in the world and is considered the king of them all! There are five whisky regions in Scotland (six if you count the not officially recognized Islands), and each of them produces spirits with unique properties and distinct tasting notes. (The type of grain used determents the type of the scotch.)
Malt whisky is made of malted barley, and grain whisky uses other grains like corn or wheat. Most of the time, a whisky is blended from different distilleries hence the name blended scotch, but if a malt whisky is produced in a single distillery, we get something extraordinary called a single malt.
Check out our impressive selection of scotch whiskies, find your new favorite in the Top 10 scotch whiskies, or explore our treasury of rare & hard to find scotch whiskies.
