Balvenie – 15 Year Old Madeira Cask (70cl, 43%)

Balvenie – 15 Year Old Madeira Cask is a whisky from Balvenie (Speyside). Aged 15 years, bottled at 43% ABV, 70cl. Built by the Grant family in Dufftown and situated next door to sister distillery Glenfiddich, Balvenie is at the heart of Grant’s range of blends. Despite their proximity and shared water source, the style of spirit produced by the pair are quite different, with Balvenie producing a sweeter, more honeyed and very lightly peated new make spirit. It wasn’t until 1990, when Kininvie distillery was able to shoulder some of the responsibility for blending stock production, that Balvenie was really able to push forward as a single malt. The distillery quickly distinguished itself through use of innovative maturation processes, and was a pioneer of cask “finishing” with the introduction of its Doublewood expression in 1993. Balvenie is also one of the few remaining distilleries still using onsite maltings; although today this only meets a small percentage of its requirements. Matured for 15 years in American Oak barrels to develop notes of honey and vanilla, before being finished in a rich Madeira casks to bring notes of fresh peaches, orange zest and hazelnut.