The Balvenie has been practicing patience since 1931.
Hand-written archives show that on March 5th 1931, a whisky was filled into a European oak sherry butt sourced from Jerez in Spain, cask #239 at the Speyside distillery. It sat in the warehouse through generations of craftspeople and a long lineage of Malt Masters, each of whom knew it was there and decided it wasn’t ready. In 2019, current Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie decided it finally was. The result: the oldest whisky The Balvenie has ever released at 88 years old, and the centerpiece of the newly unveiled 1931 Collection. Only 17 bottles are in existence.
Distilled by The Balvenie’s craftspeople in 1931 and filled into a refill sherry butt sourced from Jerez, it then lay silently in our warehouse for a staggering eighty-eight years. It is both inspiring and humbling to be the Malt Master to bring this precious liquid to the world.” – Kelsey McKechnie, Malt Master, The Balvenie
In 1931, The Balvenie opened its Home Malt Floor, the labor-intensive tradition of malting its own barley that remains the distillery’s calling card. The 88 Year Old honors that moment.
Honey, mint, buttery fudge, and floral heather lead, followed by rich oak, creamy toffee, and warming spice. The finish is long and drying, the kind that lingers well after the glass is empty.
A Sculpture of Time
A whisky this old needed a vessel to match, and The Balvenie turned to artist Daniel Arsham, whose work often explores erosion and the passage of time. His sculptural presentation for the 88 Year Old is built from 88 layers of oak and copper salvaged from a decommissioned Balvenie still, arranged in eight flowing tiers meant to evoke the decades. The whisky rests inside a hand-blown crystal decanter. Arsham’s palette of copper and green nods to the verdigris patina metal acquires as it ages.
The Collection
Seventeen bottles, offered to private clients and collectors, will not be turning up on many back bars. So McKechnie, inspired by the historic liquid, created two additional limited editions using similar techniques, from malt to cask.
The 12 Year Old is made from 100% Home Malted Barley. On the nose, it is warm biscuit and creamy toffee, giving way to barley sugar sweetness, crystallized ginger, raisin, and spice, all ending in a rich, velvety finish. It will be available across the United States while supplies last, at $99.99.
For travelers, there is the 15 Year Old, made from 100% home-grown and home-malted barley and sold exclusively through global travel retail at $199.99.
