The fertile Speyside glen is the setting for a most romantic and warming event, shrouded in history and natural alchemy.
It’s called whisky distilling, and at the Balvenie, you’ll find the age-old methods almost unchanged.
In fact, aside from a few new buildings and collecting the barley harvest by combine harvester instead of by malt shovel, not much is different at all.
The history of Balvenie Castle and its adjacent farm, Balvenie Mains has been documented and includes the names of Scotland’s most notorious, including Robert the Bruce and Mary Queen of Scots. If you visit the distillery today, they’ll be happy to give you the detail on a tour. Alternatively you can enjoy a virtual online tour at its website.
From the thousand acres of barley that it grows and then malts it in its own traditional working floor maltings – the only one still remaining in Scotland. It then uses coppers and a coppersmith to “tend the casks” and “maintain the pot stills”.
The casks are stored to brew from twelve years up to four decades before they are presented to The Balvenie’s Malt Master, David Stewart, who is notably the longest-serving in the industry, who tastes and checks for consistency while adding new expressions to the range.
The Balvenie is one of few so completely hands-on distillers and this “spirit, wood and time” experience provides an absolutely unique character to the flavour. The heritage and handcrafted nature speaks in the whisky glass itself.
As the distillery itself proclaims loudly, “We we don’t keep to traditions for the sake of it. When we find something that enhances things without compromising taste, we take to it. Electric light, the motor car and, yes, the Internet.”
The Balvenie recently became a main sponsor of Slow Food UK to help the organisation increase its operations of promoting good, clean and fair food, so Slow Food members will be getting the opportunity to try a wee single malt dram at Slow Food Taste Workshops.
Image credit: IntangibleArt
