IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS

Wine Enthusiast 92 points - This 14-year-old single-malt Scotch was made using smoke from Speyside peat for one week of the year, the producer says. The aroma harmoniously balances peat and baked apple. It’s a complex sipper, opening with savory seaweed, a flash of salt, and a flicker of alcohol heat. The peat impact is relatively restrained and doesn’t kick in until the finish. A splash of water unlocks espresso and vanilla sweetness, plus clove and black pepper.December/2019

The Balvenie Peat Week Aged 14 Years is the result of trials undertaken in 2001 by The Balvenie Malt Master David C. Stewart MBE and our former distillery manager Ian Millar. At a time when few Speyside distilleries were using peat in production, The Balvenie decided to distill a batch of heavily peated malt, which was laid down to mature at the distillery in Dufftown, Scotland. Ever since then we’ve dedicated one week each year, named Peat Week, to using 100% Highland peat to dry our barley. Instead of coastal elements of iodine, salt, and medicinal characteristics so commonly associated with Islay peat, Highland peat imparts earthy, woody smoke notes. This means that even though Peat Week is made using heavily peated malt (30ppm) it has an unexpected sweetness deeply rooted in the Speyside regional character.