Friends of Aubin

THE BALVENIE

(We’re all getting better with age!)

Imagine in this era of instant gratification not reaping the rewards of your labours for up to 50 years? Well this is what the patient souls at The Balvenie Whisky Distillery must do….They are very much in it for the long haul and the slow game rewards are so so sweet that waiting becomes irrelevant.

We have worked with Balvenie now since opening up our store on Edinburgh’s George Street, so it only seemed right that when the invitation came, we leaped at the chance to visit the distillery in Speyside. The tourist board calls this area ‘The Malt Whisky Capital of the World” and it’s not hard to see why.

Speyside is responsible for the lion’s share of all Scotch malt whisky production.

Fun fact about the trees in this area…if you’ve ever been you’ll have noticed all the bark on the trees is an eerie Sleepy Hollow black (not seen anywhere else) This is due to the Angel Share, the result of the alcohol evaporating out of the casks into the air.

Anyway, less of the David Bellamy and more about The Balvenie

The Balvenie was established in 1892. Speyside and the surrounding area was an ideal location to produce whisky if you wanted to hide your distillery from the tax man (which, ahem, may have occasionally happened. There were plenty of early warning signals and you had lots of hills and valleys to hide in.) This area also has some of the purest water sources in Britain which is essential for fine whisky production. A family run business at its heart, The Balvenie still belongs to the founding family.

We love Balvenie because it is all about true craftmanship, with skills developed over many years. Whisky is a generational thing and we didn’t know just how much of a generational thing it was until we talked to the team there. They are laying down now for the next generation in 12-, 20-, 30- or 50-years’ time.

In our daily lives, we all run around at breakneck speed, life is super busy and time is short. But at The Balvenie, life works in really quite the opposite way. It’s all about taking your time. Celebrating the craft and craftmanship that goes into curating this liquid gold.

Balvenie stands out from a lot of other distilleries as they have maintained the crafts that people were doing 100 years ago. This may not be as profitable or economic in the short term but it is paramount to the family. Keeping the Coopersmiths, the Coopers, the barley farmer, the malt turners’ crafts alive ensures that the skills and expertise get passed down the generations. It really is a real ‘field to glass’ process

“We rely on the passing of knowledge and experience from generation to generation to maintain
our tradition and distinctive character”

DAVID C. STEWART MBE,
Former Balvenie Malt Master and Honorary Ambassador

The Balvenie site has 42 warehouses in total, housing around 1.3million casks. The aroma of whisky aging should be bottled to wear as a cologne. The warehouses are huge. Looking for the Lost Ark in Hangar 51 came to mind as we peered down the rows.

We met the self -proclaimed ‘Defender of the Cask’ George Carail, who has been at Balvenie for 15 years and is the Warehouse and Samples Co-ordinator. He has intimate knowledge of the casks and works closely with the Malt Master.

George says – “Every day is different; every cask is different. Being able to nose the casks, you always pick up something new. David Stewart set a lot down for the future and we’re starting to see the fruits of that now. Well, that’s the magic. Part of the wonderment of it all.”

The team at Balvenie is very mindful about passing on the skills that are needed to keep this industry alive for generations to come. We met up with Cameron Grant, apprentice cooper who has been at Balvenie for 3 years. He was destined to join the business as his grandparents and parents all worked at the distillery before him. Hearing Cameron talk about how proud he is to work at the distillery was really quite inspiring. The family values which are instilled into everyone who is involved in the process permeates through every cask and bottle which roll at a glacial speed off the 50 year long production line.