Balvenie Distillery, Speyside, Scotland.

This evening, I am focusing on Balvenie Distillery on Scotland’s Speyside region. This is, one of the very few traditional and integrated Scotch whisky producers from malting floor through to cooperage.

Summary information:

• Located in Dufftown, about fifty-three miles N.W.of Aberdeen.
• A sister distillery of the mighty Glenfiddich on a site adjacent to Glenfiddich.
• Founded by William Grant (Glenfiddich) in 1887.
• Production capacity of 7.0m litres p.a.
• Uses water from the Robbie Dhu Springs in the Conval Hills (same source as Glenfiddich).
• Has a complement of eleven stills.
• Spirit is lightly peated and matured in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry or ex-port casks.
• Most of the production goes into blends but a wide range of single malts are available.
• The core range of malts consists of:Doublewood 12,Caribbean Cask 14, French Oak 16 and Portwood 21. There is also the Rare Marriage series (25.30 and 40 years old). The Balvenie Stories consists of A Rare Discovery From Distant Shores 27 years rum finish, A Revelation of Cask and Character 19 years and The Week of Peat 17 years old. In July 2024 A Collection of Curious Casks was introduced.

Tours are available but only for pre-booked small groups. Allow about three hours. A visit here would appeal to the whisky connoisseur.

Maltings floor at Balvenie Distillery

Stills at Balvenie Distillery

Tasting at Balvenie Distillery

Balvenie malts

Charring whisky casks at Balvenie

More Information

For more information on distilleries and many other aspects of Scotland please refer to the Visitors’ Guide to Scotland, ISBN 978-1-9161332-0-4. This book is also available via Kindle.