Balvenie distillery

William Grant was born on 19 December 1839 in his father's house in Dufftown. At seven he began herding cattle at a farm on the upper reaches of the River Deveron. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker then worked as a clerk, and then became a bookkeeper at Mortlach distillery 1866. There he was appointed as a clerk and then manager and learned the distilling trade.

After about twenty years, Grant left his job at the Mortlach distillery and bought a field near Balvenie Castle. He then drew up plans for his distillery, and the foundation stone was laid in the autumn of 1886.

Grant remained active in the company until his death in 1923 at the age of 83.

In early 1892 work began to convert an 18th-century mansion (Balvenie New House) into a distillery.[2] The building took fifteen months to complete, and on 1 May 1893, the first distillation took place at the Balvenie Distillery.

David Stewart MBE, Balvenie's Malt Master, is one of the industry's most experienced experts and began working with William Grant & Sons in 1962. He is perhaps most famous for being the first to create the process that would later be known as wood finishing, a process whereby whiskies are matured in one type of cask, such as ex-Bourbon barrels, then transferred into a second cask type (such as ex Sherry, Port or Rum) resulting in a greater depth and complexity of the final flavour of the whisky. He received his MBE from Queen Elizabeth II on the 5th of July, 2016 for his services to the Scotch Whisky Industry.

In 2007, The Balvenie's previous Global Brand Ambassador David Laird presented an online documentary series about the making of malt whisky, shot in and around the Balvenie Distillery.[3]

Balvenie makes whisky in the traditional batch process of the production of single malt. The use of locally grown barley is preferred, and it is floor-malted where possible.[2] Of the 120+ distilleries in Scotland, Balvenie is one of only seven distilleries with its own malting floor.[4] And the only distillery that still practises all 5 of the Rare Crafts all on site (growing barley, malting barley, onsite Copper Smith, onsite Cooperage, and The Balvenie Malt Master, David C Stewart).

Some Balvenie offerings have received awards at spirits ratings competitions. At the San Francisco World Spirits Competitions from 2006–2012, its 15-year single barrel received: gold, silver, gold, silver, and double gold medals.[20] Its Portwood Cask Finish 21 year won double gold in 2012—the last year it was rated in that competition.[21] At the 2006 International Spirits Challenge, Balvenie's collective offerings yielded the biggest gold medal haul for any brand in any one year since the competition began.

Other notable awards:

• 2013 World Whiskies Awards: The Balvenie 30 Year Old - Best Speyside Single Malt[22]
• 2009 International Spirits Challenge: The Balvenie PortWood 21 Year Old - Gold
• 2009 International Wine & Spirit Competition: The Balvenie PortWood 21 Year Old - Best in Class
• 2008 International Spirits Challenge: The Balvenie Signature Aged 12 Years - Gold
• 2008 International Wine & Spirit Competition: The Balvenie PortWood 21 Year Old - Gold, The Balvenie Vintage 1974 - Gold, The Balvenie Vintage 1974 - Best in Class
• 2008 Scotch Whisky Masters: The Balvenie PortWood 21 Year Old - Gold
• 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition: The Balvenie Single Barrel 15 Year Old - Gold, The Balvenie SherryOak 17 Year Old - Gold
• 2008 World Whiskies Awards: The Balvenie SherryOak 17 Year Old - Speyside category winner

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