The Balvenie

The Scottish Malt Whisky distillery The Balvenie is located on the slopes of the Convals, below the Glenfiddich distillery. It was built in 1892 by William J. Grant, who is also the founder of the sister distillery Glenfiddich.

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Information about the Distillery
225 Bottles
Scotland, Speyside
-3.127211 57.458357
Active
Wm. Grant & Sons
5 x 12,729 l
Tall
6 x 12,729 l
Tall
10 x 50,000 l
10 t
1892
5,600,000 l
http://www.thebalvenie.com/
Average tasting notes Tasting notes
i
Nosing
Sweet:
Sweet:
Fruit:
Sherry:
Vanilla:
Vanilla:
Fruit:
Sherry:
Honey:
Honey:
Zitrus:
Zitrus:
Orange:
Orange:
Oak:
Oak:
Caramel:
Caramel:
Spices:
Nuts:
Malt:
Peat Smoke:
Malt:
Spices:
Peat Smoke:
Raisin:
Raisin:
Nuts:
Tropical Fruit:
Tropical Fruit:
Herbs:
Cinnamon:
Cinnamon:
Herbs:
Apple:
Apple:
Banana:
Banana:
Dried Fruit:
Dried Fruit:
Peach:
Oil:
Peach:
Oil:
Alcohol:
Pineapple:
Pineapple:
Alcohol:
Lemon:
Lemon:
Pear:
Pear:
Herb:
Herb:
Green Apple:
Green Apple:
Chocolate:
Chocolate:
Heather:
Heather:
Floral:
Floral:
Berries:
Berries:
Almonds:
Almonds:
Cherry:
Cherry:
Dark Chocolate:
Barley:
Dark Chocolate:
Barley:
Plum:
Plum:
Clove:
Clove:
Ginger:
Ginger:
Mint:
Mint:
Blackberry:
Walnut:
Walnut:
Cake:
Cake:
Blackberry:
Hazelnut:
Hazelnut:
Lime:
Lime:
Coconut:
Grass:
Coconut:
Grass:
Coffee:
Hay:
Coffee:
Hay:
Nutmeg:
Grape:
Tobacco:
Nutmeg:
Grape:
Tobacco:
Bonfire Smoke:
Bonfire Smoke:
Fig:
Fig:
Leather:
Leather:
Melon:
Seaweed:
Grapefruit:
Pepper:
Strawberry:
Seaweed:
Maritime Notes:
Pepper:
Grapefruit:
Strawberry:
Maritime Notes:
Melon:
Chili:
Chili:
Salt:
Lemon Peel:
Red Currant:
Salt:
Medicinal Smoke:
Medicinal Smoke:
Red Currant:
Anis:
Lemon Peel:
Kiwi:
Ham:
Ham:
Kiwi:
Tasting
Sweet:
Sweet:
Fruit:
Oak:
Oak:
Sherry:
Sherry:
Vanilla:
Vanilla:
Spices:
Nuts:
Fruit:
Honey:
Honey:
Spices:
Nuts:
Zitrus:
Zitrus:
Caramel:
Caramel:
Malt:
Malt:
Oil:
Orange:
Orange:
Oil:
Cinnamon:
Cinnamon:
Peat Smoke:
Chocolate:
Chocolate:
Herb:
Herb:
Peat Smoke:
Dried Fruit:
Dried Fruit:
Herbs:
Herbs:
Pepper:
Dark Chocolate:
Pepper:
Dark Chocolate:
Tropical Fruit:
Tropical Fruit:
Raisin:
Raisin:
Ginger:
Ginger:
Alcohol:
Alcohol:
Chili:
Chili:
Pear:
Pear:
Almonds:
Almonds:
Apple:
Apple:
Lemon:
Lemon:
Banana:
Banana:
Pineapple:
Pineapple:
Plum:
Plum:
Berries:
Berries:
Grapefruit:
Grapefruit:
Heather:
Peach:
Heather:
Peach:
Floral:
Floral:
Fig:
Fig:
Cake:
Cake:
Date:
Date:
Cherry:
Coffee:
Nutmeg:
Cherry:
Nutmeg:
Grape:
Coffee:
Grape:
Green Apple:
Green Apple:
Lemon Peel:
Walnut:
Walnut:
Lemon Peel:
Coconut:
Coconut:
Maritime Notes:
Maritime Notes:
Salt:
Salt:
Clove:
Barley:
Barley:
Clove:
Leather:
Tobacco:
Tobacco:
Leather:
Blackberry:
Blackberry:
Wheat:
Wheat:
Grass:
Hazelnut:
Grass:
Hazelnut:
Lime:
Lime:
Seaweed:
Seaweed:
Strawberry:
Strawberry:
Bonfire Smoke:
Bonfire Smoke:
Rye:
Rye:
Hay:
Hay:
Mint:
Medicinal Smoke:
Black Currant:
Black Currant:
Medicinal Smoke:
Mint:
Red Currant:
Red Currant:
Finish
Sweet:
Sweet:
Oak:
Oak:
Spices:
Spices:
Nuts:
Sherry:
Sherry:
Fruit:
Fruit:
Vanilla:
Vanilla:
Malt:
Malt:
Nuts:
Oil:
Oil:
Peat Smoke:
Herb:
Herb:
Honey:
Honey:
Zitrus:
Zitrus:
Peat Smoke:
Dark Chocolate:
Dark Chocolate:
Chocolate:
Chocolate:
Caramel:
Caramel:
Orange:
Orange:
Cinnamon:
Cinnamon:
Alcohol:
Alcohol:
Herbs:
Herbs:
Chili:
Chili:
Pepper:
Pepper:
Almonds:
Almonds:
Heather:
Heather:
Coffee:
Coffee:
Hazelnut:
Hazelnut:
Raisin:
Raisin:
Apple:
Apple:
Dried Fruit:
Dried Fruit:
Floral:
Floral:
Nutmeg:
Nutmeg:
Tobacco:
Tobacco:
Leather:
Leather:
Seaweed:
Pear:
Maritime Notes:
Maritime Notes:
Seaweed:
Pear:
Cake:
Cake:
Green Apple:
Berries:
Berries:
Green Apple:
Tropical Fruit:
Tropical Fruit:
Lemon:
Lemon:
Fig:
Clove:
Fig:
Walnut:
Pineapple:
Walnut:
Pineapple:
Clove:
Bonfire Smoke:
Bonfire Smoke:
Grape:
Grapefruit:
Grape:
Grapefruit:
Mint:
Date:
Barley:
Date:
Barley:
Mint:
Wheat:
Grass:
Cherry:
Strawberry:
Ginger:
Banana:
Wheat:
Strawberry:
Grass:
Banana:
Cherry:
Ginger:
Salt:
Peach:
Salt:
Blackberry:
Blackberry:
Peach:
Lemon Peel:
Kiwi:
Lemon Peel:
Kiwi:
Plum:
Medicinal Smoke:
Plum:
Coconut:
Medicinal Smoke:
Coconut:
Details about the Distillery

The Whisky

The distillery character of The Balvenie with sweet honey and vanilla notes is typical of a Speyside distillery.

The distillery is known for its cask finishes, which Malt Master David C. Steward was one of the first to start in the early 1980s. The core range is very large, with the 12-year-old Double Wood with a Sherry cask finish being the flagship. It goes up to the 30-year-old. These Whiskies get even better when the sweet and smooth tones are complemented by oak and darker flavours such as leather and cigars.

Another Whisky in the Core Range is the Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14-year-old. While the Rum casks used to be sourced directly from the Caribbean, the distillery now takes a different approach: as the casks were often too dry, the Rum itself is now imported to Dufftown and blended on site to achieve the desired flavour profile. The distillery then fills this Rum into American oak barrels before the 14-year-old Balvenie is placed in these barrels for finishing.

Once a year, during "Peat Week", The Balvenie distils a batch of smoky Whisky. Distillery Manager Ian Miller came up with the idea during a visit to Islay. The resulting Whiskies belong to the Balvenie Stories series. The peat used, which is sweeter than that from Islay, comes from Speyside.

There used to be a few independent bottlings of The Balvenie. As a result, there are only a handful of bottles on the market that contain Whisky straight from the cask.

In recent years, the Blended Whisky Monkey Shoulder has been developed, which consists partly of Balvenie Whisky. It serves as the 'sweet spice' in the blend.

The Production

The production output at The Balvenie is very high for a Single Malt distillery with 7 million litres of alcohol per year. This output is achieved with 5 wash stills and 6 spirit stills. The scale of production at The Balvenie is also interesting. The distillery has its own farm, its own malting floors, its own spring, a coppersmith, a barrel maker and all the usual facilities of a distillery.

The traditional Scottish barley for the malt is partly grown on the The Balvenie Main, a 1,000-acre field (equivalent to around 3,500 square metres). The distillery works together with the fifth generation of the Wiseman family. The farming family grows the barley for Balvenie Whisky on the land.

The Balvenie has preserved the traditional malting floors and is now one of the few distilleries where you can buy Whisky that is produced as it was before the industrialisation of Whisky production. Today, around five to ten per cent of the barley is malted in-house, the rest is bought in. However, the smoky proportion for the Peat Week Whiskies comes entirely from the company's own production, as the smoke content can be better adapted to the needs of the distillery.

The coppersmith keeps all the stills and the associated pipework in good condition. The Balvenie states that the shape of their stills is one of the most important factors in creating the character of the distillery.

The cask makers are also very important for the typical flavour of The Balvenie. They check, repair, build, fill and seal casks all day long. The wide variety of casks at The Balvenie makes this department an indispensable part of the distillery.

The Pot Stills

The capacity of each of the five wash stills is approx. 12,000 litres. They have a very round shape and are equipped with a reflux ball. The stills are also very tall, and the Lyne arm is falling after the neck.

The spirit stills are bigger and there are six of them, also with a capacity of 12,000 litres each. This allows for very slow distillation, whereby the unwanted flavours in the alcohol can be better separated. The spirit stills are more tubular and there is another reflux ball above the intermediate piece. However, the Lyne arm rises upwards after the bend. All of this means that the unwanted flavours and fusel oils are separated very well from the new distillate, which is one of the reasons why Balvenie is so smooth and sweet and has no sharp or intense undertones.

 

The Malting

The malting floors at The Balvenie are open and working up to the present day. The malt at The Balvenie shows almost no phenol content from drying over peat fire. Many of our photos from the malting floors were taken at The Balvenie.

 

The Mashing

The distillery mixes the purchased malt from the large malting plants and its own malt in a ratio of eleven to one. Starch is converted into sugar from the 12 tonnes of barley grist in a modern Lauter Tun in two mashing and two Lauter processes.

The Fermentation

The Balvenie has 15 washbacks with a volume of 52,000 litres. There are also 260 litres of liquid yeast. With a fermentation period of 65 hours, the distillery aims to create a sweet and malty character. The wash then goes on to distillation at 10% vol.

The Warehouse

Most of the warehouses at The Balvenie are kept traditionally flat and are made of old grey stone. This and the Scottish Highland climate let the Whisky mature very slowly, making it very smooth. The choice of casks at the Balvenie warehouse is very diverse. There are a vast number of first and refill Bourbon casks. But there are also a lot of Sherry casks and quite a number of exotic casks such as Rum and Wine casks.

Today's Dunnage Warehouse No. 24 sits on the foundations of the New Balvenie Castle, which was built from the stones of the former Balvenie Castle. A lord had this castle built for one of his mistresses, whose ghost is said to still haunt The Balvenie. The thick stone walls, which provide good insulation in both summer and winter, are ideal for today's use.

Malt Master David Steward began in the 1980s with cask finishes, which were still unusual at the time. One famous example is the 14-year-old Balvenie, which was finished in a Rum cask.

 

The History

The Balvenie distillery was built in 1892 by William J. Grant. The name Balvenie means 'village of luck'. The company is still in the hand of the William Grant & Sons Ltd. When the distillery was built Grant had to save a bit on the equipment. The stills were used stills from the Lagavulin distillery. Over the years the Balvenie Whisky became very popular and the distillery increased the number of stills from two to four. In 1971 the whole distillery was renovated and the number of stills was increased to a total of nine stills.

The Balvenie has never stood still in the course of its history, even if production had to be reduced during the wars. Although many distilleries had to close during Prohibition, The Balvenie did not. For the distillery in Dufftown, this only meant a reduction in competition.

Due to the high production the malt cannot be fully supplied by the malting floors at the distillery. So the distillery has to buy malt from the big malting companies.

One interesting fact is that the Balvenie distillery didn't have a distillery bottling until 1973. Today it has a big range of standard distillery Whiskies with a common design.

One man who has shaped the Balvenie brand and the Whisky scene for a long time is David C. Stuart, who joined the distillery in 1962 at the age of 16. He worked his way up to Malt Master and is still working for The Balvenie, as an Honorary Ambassador since 2023. He passed on his title as Malt Master to Kelsey McKechnie, who has been part of the Balvenie team since 2014.

The Visitor Centre

The Balvenie is now open to the public. To get a tour you should pre-book online, as the tours are kept small and opening times at the distillery are pretty short. The tour is very interesting, because of all the production steps that are not common in the Whisky industry anymore. You can also bottle your own Whisky at the warehouse.

Visitor information

The Balvenie Distilley
Balvenie Maltings
Dufftown
Baffshire
AB55 4BB
Tel: +44 (0)1340-822210

User Notes about the Distillery

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