The Balvenie goes back to its roots for its 1931 Collection and its oldest expression to date.
At a time when the wider whisky industry was in turmoil, 1931 was a defining year for the distillery. This year marked the opening of Balvenie’s newly constructed Home Malt Floor. 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. This liquid lay in the distillery’s warehouse for a remarkable 88 years. In 2019, The Balvenie’s current Malt Master, Kelsey McKechnie, recognized that it had come of age. Just seventeen bottles of the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old whisky exist.
“Once in a while, a whisky comes along that is so remarkable it has the potential to shape the future of Scotch,” said Charles Metcalfe, Global Ambassador, The Balvenie. “It is a true testament to our craftsmen and women, our continuing careful family guardianship and The Balvenie’s reverence for its product in treating each cask as meticulously as the next, that this cask has not only survived but excelled in its very being.”
This continuing artistry enabled McKechnie, inspired by the 88 year old expression, to create two further Limited Editions expressions. A Twelve-Year-Old and a Fifteen-Year-Old have been made in the same spirit for many more consumers to experience and enjoy.
The 1931 Collection Twelve-Year-Old is made using similar techniques, from malt to cask, as the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old. Made from 100% home malted barley and matured in American oak casks, this expression is then finished in ex-Sherry Bodega European oak butts from Jerez, the same region in Spain as the original cask #239.
The final expression in the 1931 Collection is a Limited Edition Fifteen-Year-Old-Whisky. This special release is made from 100% home grown and home malted barley. As with the Twelve-Year-Old, this liquid was initially matured in American oak casks before being finished in ex-Sherry Bodega European oak butts from Jerez.
To celebrate the 1931 Collection, The Balvenie continues its collaboration with Daniel Arsham. He has designed a sculptural form for the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old liquid, presented in his signature style as a time worn relic. Crafted from eight flowing layers, one for each decade, the fascia is made with hand-patinated bronze that mirrors the textures and colors found across the distillery and the oxidation that happens naturally on copper over time. The reverse is made from eighty-eight symbolic layers of oak. At the centre is a copper disc crafted from a decommissioned distillery still, a physical piece of The Balvenie’s history embedded within the sculpture.
“At The Balvenie, I encountered a spirit that has been carefully shaped by generations of people who have protected and refined their craft, while remaining deeply connected to their origins,” said Daniel Arsham. “Much of my work explores time, material transformation and the histories that objects carry. This collaboration has brought these themes together naturally; I wanted to create something that feels both ancient and contemporary, to make the passage of time tangible.”
The Eighty-Eight-Year-Old whisky is housed in a hand-blown crystal decanter. Featuring ‘The Balvenie Ball’, inspired by the unique shape of the distillery’s copper stills, the decanter sits as though uncovered at the centre of Arsham’s relic, engraved with 18kt gold gilding and polished to perfection.
Arsham’s presentation of the 1931 Collection Twelve-Year-Old and Fifteen-Year-Old is connected to the Eight-Eighty-Year-Old’s sculpture. On the heavily debossed and tactile exterior of the packaging, a green hue emerges from a copper tone, echoing the Verdigris patina of the sculpture’s eight layers. Inside reveals a textured copper-colored substrate, redolent of the material language of the distillery.
The Balvenie 1931 Collection Twelve-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky is available in selected markets for $99.99. The Balvenie 1931 Collection Fifteen-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky is available $199.99 exclusively through global travel retail outlets. The Balvenie 1931 Collection Eighty-Eight-Year-Old is available to private clients and collectors.
