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VIP Producer - The Balvenie

Published:  07 June, 2010

William Grant and Sons - The Balvenie, Dufftown, Speyside.

The Balvenie prides itself on tradition craftsmanship, it grows its own barley, carries out traditional barley floor malting and is the only distillery to do so on the Scottish mainland. It's still family owned, the first spirit to flow from the distillery was in 1893. "We've never needed do marketing," says UK brand ambassador, Dr Andrew Forrester. "It's all about a loud whisper, people just discover us."

Range
Founder's Reserve 10 yo, Double Wood 12yo, Signature 12 yo, Single Barrel 15yo, Madeira Cask 17 yo, Port Wood 21 yo, Twenty Five, Thirty and other vintage cask and limited editions.


Philosophy
The Balvenie still has its own cooperage and coppersmith and Forrester says it's all about going back to basics and keeping the traditional skills and apprentiships alive. "If we weren't a family business we couldn't keep this going, it wouldn't be cost effective if we were owned by a big corporation. Most distillery's are now run by computers which regulate the distillation process, we're still about the experience of looking and smelling to see what the whisky's doing. People respect the way we operate."

Top People
David Stewart, malt master

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