The story behind the William Grant & Sons Ltd. Distillery had become extremely interesting starting with the year 1962. The famous brand, founded back in 1886 by William Grant, has known two substantially important events.
First of all, the master blender of that time, in the person of Hamish Robertson, had selected special barrel “cask nr. 5576”, a massive European oak sherry hogshead, a rare item in today’s whisky making industry. The character had then filled it with newly made distillate from the Balvenie Distillery.
Currently the brand’s Malt Master, David Stewart was hired as apprentice at that time, which is the second important event. During the 50 years of sweat and tears Mr. Stewart had invested in whisky making, since his arrival at the Balvenie Distillery, the spirits left to mature in the respective special European oak sherry hogshead continued to mellow, age and evaporate, therefore transforming into an exquisitely exceptional single malt Scotch whisky with stunningly smooth finish and a fine citrus sweetness.
The year 2012 had represented Stewart’s 50 year with the Balvenie, a perfect occasion to bottle and launch the Balvenie Fifty whisky. Unfortunately, a huge quantity of whisky had evaporated during the maturation process, the angel’s share, as connoisseurs know it. The remaining single malt was merely enough to fill 88 bottles.
Out of the 88 total bottles of the Balvenie Fifty, 10 will be pointed towards retail commerce in the United States. Each one of them will bear a price tag of $30,000 and a commemorative brass plaque, alongside being encased in a one off canister manufactured from 8 different kinds of Scottish wood essences. The 49 rings of 7 Scottish-grown timbers mark the 50 years which Stewart has so far spent at The Balvenie Distillery and were created by the fine craftsman Sam Chinnery.
The outcome of the maturation process is an amazing floral and fragrant whisky, finely sweet with a unique combination of cinnamon and nutmeg outbursts, discrete smacks of honey, oak and spice, alongside sweet citrus tones. If you’re among the enthusiasts of such tastes, you can try the shot of the Balvenie Fifty at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas or at Mastro’s , for $3,400 a shot.
Out of the 78 remaining bottles, only 22 will be pointed towards global travel retail, while one was officially unveiled by David Stewart and some additional colleagues at Los Angeles International Airport – the single North American travel retail airport to carry the blend.
[BornRich]
