William Grant & Sons has released a peated expression of its single malt Scotch whisky The Balvenie.
The Balvenie Peat Week Aged 14 Years (2002 Vintage) is the product of trials undertaken by The Balvenie’s Malt Master David Stewart MBE and Ian Millar, former Distillery Manager and current Prestige Whiskies Specialist at William Grant.
At a time when very few Speyside distilleries were using peat in production, The Balvenie distilled a batch of heavily-peated malt, which was laid down to mature at the distillery in Dufftown under the watchful eye of the industry’s longest-serving Malt Master. Since then, the distillery has dedicated one week each year, named Peat Week, to using only peated barley in its production, to craft a different style of The Balvenie with enhanced smoky notes.
The result of the initial experiment, says William Grant, is a classic honeyed whisky enriched with a delicate, sweet and lingering peat smoke that unlocks flavours unexpected from a Speyside distillery and showcases The Balvenie’s truly innovative and forward-thinking nature.
The Balvenie Peat Week (48.3% abv) is a single vintage bottling, matured solely in American Oak casks.
Ian Millar said: “Along with cask type, there’s nothing quite like peat to change the flavour profile of a whisky, so it was great to have the chance to undertake these experiments and lay the foundations for future peated malts.”
The Balvenie Peat Week retails at £60 RSP and is available now.
