The youngest whisky in The Balvenie DCS Compendium, this 2009 single cask comes from Chapter Four, "Expecting the Unexpected". It was drawn from a first-fill bourbon barrel at a fierce 64.6% and carries a thread of smoke that nobody at the distillery planned for.
About This Whisky
Cask 2724, a first-fill American oak bourbon barrel, was filled on 7 April 2009 and bottled in March 2018. David Stewart picked it as one of his biggest surprises: although it was distilled outside The Balvenie's annual Peat Week, the spirit shows clear notes of peat. His explanation is that smoky residue from earlier peated runs lingered in the washbacks and pipework and carried forward into this batch. Chapter Four, released in 2018, grouped five casks that each broke from the usual house style.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Citrus peel, vanilla, fresh malt and a faint wisp of peat smoke
- Palate: Blossom honey and vanilla up front, then light smoke, green apple and a peppery bite from the high strength
- Finish: Malty sweetness fading into distant smoke and oak spice
Serving & Food
Start with a small pour in a tulip glass and add water gradually; it turns softer and sweeter once below about 50%. Smoked salmon, char siu or a sharp aged cheddar pick up the faint smoke.
How to Enjoy
Anyone after an unusual, faintly smoky Balvenie at full strength, and Compendium collectors filling a gap.
Product Details
Distillery: The Balvenie
Series: DCS Compendium, Chapter Four (Expecting the Unexpected)
Vintage: Distilled 07.04.2009
Age: 8 years old
Cask: First-fill American oak bourbon barrel, cask no. 2724
Bottled: 2018
Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside
ABV: 64.6% ABV
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
William Grant built The Balvenie in Dufftown in the 1890s, alongside Glenfiddich. It is one of very few Scottish distilleries that still floor malts part of its own barley, some of it grown on the distillery farm, and it keeps its own coopers and coppersmith.
David C. Stewart MBE joined William Grant & Sons in 1962 and is widely credited with popularising cask finishing. The DCS Compendium honoured his career in five chapters, one a year from 2015 to 2019, each made up of five single casks from different decades and limited to 50 full sets.