702.0 BALVENIE DCS CHAPTER 5
The Balvenie has released the fifth chapter in its DCS Compendium series. Chapter Five, titled ‘Malt Master’s Indulgence’, ends the series that celebrates malt master David Stewart’s career.
The chapter contains five vintages aged between 16 and 56 years, including the oldest whisky to be released by The Balvenie – a 1962 vintage, commemorating Stewart’s first year at the distillery. Meanwhile the 1974 celebrates the year Stewart became malt mater.
The full line up includes:
- 1962, aged 56 years, European oak Oloroso sherry hogshead, 42.1% abv, RRP £37,000
- 1974, aged 44 years, refill American oak barrel, 51.3% abv, RRP £17,000
- 1983, aged 35 years, refill American oak hogshead, 42% abv, RRP £3,500
- 2001, aged 17 years, European oak Fino sherry butt, 63.5% abv, RRP £800
- 2002, aged 16 years, first-fill American oak bourbon barrel, 53.9% abv, RRP £700
‘It takes a good deal of time to understand how each cask differs and how whisky maturation is affected by various wood types,’ said Stewart. ‘You need confidence to select casks and know which are likely to achieve greatness. Working for a family company, I’ve been lucky enough to have been given the freedom to make stock decisions based on my preference and vision, with the free rein to pick casks and hold on to whisky, not always knowing what I’m going to do with it, for no other reason than thinking one day it will be extraordinary.’
Parent company William Grant & Sons has released 50 sets of Chapter 5. As with past Chapters in The Balvenie DCS Compendium, Chapter Five is presented in a handcrafted frame, produced by Scottish craftsman Sam Chinnery. Each set is accompanied by The Balvenie DCS Compendium book, written by former Balvenie global ambassador Dr Samuel J Simmons.
Chapter Five follows four other chapters, released annually since October 2015. The full collection comprises 25 single cask, single malts.
