Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
weaves of spiciness, all of it silkily burnished; if Fabergé made whisky, you suspect this
is what it would taste like. The a'bunadh - batch No. 8 - I got (no age given but generally
reckoned to be a mixture of barrels between eight and fifteen years old) is a stonker; a
powerfully, opulently spicy-sweet cocktail of flavours that makes your head reel.
The Balvenie is owned by the same people who own Glenfiddich, next door. This
seems almost unfair, but there you go. Standing more or less in the shadow of the ruins of
Balvenie Castle, the distillery still has its own maltings, which makes it unique on Spey-
side. One word starts to tell you about Balvenie, and that's honey. Only starts to, though,
because this is one of the most complex, balanced, elegant and harmonious whiskies
on Speyside, packed with exquisitely proportioned amounts of gingery sherry-cum-port,
fruit and spice, like the best Christmas cake in all the world. If there is one of the fairly-
well-knowns that is arguably still undervalued and deserves even greater exposure, praise
and appreciation, the Balvenie is it.
Glenfiddich presents as a trim, neat, well-manicured concern with everything posi-
tioned nicely in its place; it has its own bottling plant, unusually, and a splendid shop;
worth taking photographs of all by itself. It was where we found one bottle priced at five
thousand pounds, which Les and I assumed must be some sort of record for a bottle you
could buy over the counter at a distillery retail outlet, until we found one nearby priced at
ten grand. Kind of suspect they're not the real ones out there on display.
There are a
lot
of stills here; 28 at the last count, with the spirit stills so small they
need two per wash still (this small-still thing may be important - we'll come back to this
with Macallan, later). They're coal-fired too, which is very traditional, and also unusual
these days.
Glenfiddich is the best-selling single malt in the world, and it comes as a surprise to
discover that it isn't owned by one of the big multinationals. It's really another family
business, owned by William Grant and Sons, and they pretty much pioneered the single-
malt revolution in the early sixties. Respect is due for that alone, but the whisky has re-
mained a standard; floral (like most Speysides) with an accent on heather and a depth
of honey that can make it seem halfway to a liqueur at times (a trait it shares with the
Balvenie). They've kept innovating, too, which I think is admirable; there are various dif-
ferent finishes, all of them excellent, and one which is, to my taste, simply astounding.
It's the Gran Reserva - originally Havana Reserve - a 21-year-old finished in old
Cuban rum casks. This is a colossal, fabulously rich, endlessly, smokily sweet and succu-
lent whisky, bursting with flavour, strong on the nose, long in the throat … just magnifi-
cent. And, as though this wasn't enough, there should be more of it to go around than we
have any right to expect, because it's banned from the USA. The States' punitive, mean-
spirited and just generally disgraceful trade embargo against Cuba means that this par-
ticular Glenfiddich can't be bought between Canada and Mexico. Well, I'm sorry for US
