Balvenie distillery is located in Dufftown, Keith, Banffshire (Speyside) and was founded in 1892 by W&J Grant and, quite unusually today, is still owned by the same founding company; William Grant & Sons.

William Grant was born in 1839 and worked as a book-keeper for Mortlach distillery from 1866 where he was soon made Clerk and Manager, until he finally decided to found his own distillery 20 years later and bought a field in the shadow of Balvenie castle.

Distillery photos by kind permission of Teun van Wel

The Balvenie operates 8 stills (4 spirit, 4 wash) and has a capacity of around 5.6 million litres of pure alcohol per year.

More great distillery info here, thanks to Malt Madness

General whisky characteristics: Smooth, citrus honey

Balvenie, Double Wood, 12y,

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Warm amber

Nose: Aged oak, forest honey, leather, eventually a hint of citrus and maybe just the slightest hint of (wood) smoke.

Palate: Leafy honey, slightly dry with faint butterscotch and biscuit.

FInish: Medium to long, quite dry

With 3 drops of water: A little more fruit opens onto the palate.

Overall impression: A most enjoyable everyday dram.

Balvenie, Single Barrel, 15y, 47.5% ABV

distilled Jan. 1989, bottled April 2005

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Bugatti Kelch

Nose: A wonderfully perfumed meadow of wild flowers with a hint of slightly minty fennel.

Palate: Light and very delicate. There are floral and slight perfume notes.

Author's Note: My first tasting of this whisky was after a heavily sherried one so I suspected that I didn't get the best out of it, therefore, I revisited this one at a later date with a clear palate:

Glass: Bugatti Kelch

Nose: A gentle warm marriage of honeyed orange, hazelnut and marzipan.

Palate: Very much an extension of the nose. It's creamy, elegant, smooth and very warming. The flavour is not so much an explosion, more a gentle expansion of honey, nuts and marzipan with a slight orange sauce.

Overall impression: Very good. It's gentle, warm and sophisticated.