Identical origins. Remarkably different characters.

On 28th May 1963, one year after our Malt Master David Stewart joined the distillery, we filled two European oak hogsheads with Balvenie new make spirit.

Fifty years on, the whisky in Cask 4567 has matured into a beautiful single malt with a deep reddish hue and exceptionally full taste, characterised by dark fruits and spice. It’s a wonderfully complex and elegant single malt; a perfect example of Balvenie aged for many years in European oak.

Having sat in the same type of wood in the very same warehouse for the same 50 years, the whisky from Cask 4570 is surprisingly different. Unlike its counterpart, this lovely, complex expression has a distinctly golden hue and and a taste characterised by toffee sweetness, honey and vanilla oak.

It’s rare for any whisky to mature so beautifully over such a long period of time, but for two to do so in their own distinctive and mysterious ways, is something truly special. This extraordinary outcome is testament to both the mysterious alchemy of maturation and the traditional rare crafts that are still employed at the distillery today.

You can read the tasting notes for these two exceptional expressions here.

Slainte Mhath,

David Mair
The Balvenie Distillery Ambassador