The Balvenie Cooperage and Tasting.....

As I mentioned earlier, all spirit made that is to become Scotch whisky goes into once used American oak bourbon casks....and wood makes all the difference in taste and flavor.

American Oak Bourbon Barrels

"The transformation of new spirit into mature whisky is a miraculous as the change from caterpillar to butterfly.  The chrysalis is the oak cask."

- Dr. Jim Swan

"It's all about the wood, son!"

- Ian McDonald, Balvenie Head Cooper

Ian McDonald - Head Cooper

"Cuparius" is the Latin word that is the root of the word "cooper."  Coopers are a highly skilled lot and the average cooper will serve a minimum of a four-year apprenticeship before becoming a fully fledged cooper.  We watched two young apprentices at Balvenie working under the tutelage and very watchful eye of Ian McDonald, head cooper and 43-year veteran of The Balvenie (all 43 years spent as a cooper or cooper's apprentice....this man knows barrels).

Parts of the barrel

The cooperage

Checking the barrels

What do the coopers actually do?  They verify that the used barrels are in good working order and will properly hold liquid.  Barrel hoops and tops are removed, the staves are checked, new reeds are added between staves to tighten the seal, they are put back together again and then "pressure tested" with air.  If nothing leaks, they are moved to pallets and taken to the warehouse to be filled.  It's incredible how fast these guys work!

This machine takes about a minute to complete a barrel.

Ian McDonld can do this himself....faster than the machine.

Barrels waiting to be "rebuilt"

Barrels, barrels, barrels!

I want a full one of these at home (only, a Balvenie barrel)

Gin and Annette in the Land Rover - ready for the ride back to the tasting

Finally....the tasting!

After the cooperage, we went to Warehouse 24 (yes, I was a bit out of order with my previous post) and had the opportunity to fill a 20cl bottle directly from the cask.  Before doing so, we were allowed to taste each one.....David dipped the "dog" into the cask and poured a sample into the palm of our hand for us to taste.  I cupped both hands together in hopes of getting a larger sample, but that gesture unfortunately didn't work for me.  :( 

We ended up filling two bottles....one from a 12 year old Sherry Butt (59.6% Alcohol) and the other from a 2nd Fill Bourbon Barrel (60.7% Alcohol).  Both were extremely tasty and I was hoping to sneak a bottle or two more from there, but no luck.

Sherry Butt and Bourbon Barrel

Because I am a member of Warehouse 24, an exclusive club for fans of The Balvenie, we were also treated to a sample from a 39-year old cask.  I say "we", because I was kind enough to offer a sample taste to the rest of the group that were not Warehouse 24 members (although I'm pretty sure David gives it to everyone on the tour).  

Ready for tasting

So what did we taste?  I would love to say that we were treated to all the expressions in thier line....from 12-year old DoubleWood to The Balvenie Fifty, a 50-year old malt created to celebrate Master Distiller David Stewart's 50+ years with Balvenie.  Since there were only 88 bottles of that rare whisky created, the only way that I'll be able to taste that will be to come up with $34,000 (minimum) in order to purchase a bottle.  If you would like to contribute to the Fifty for Greg fund, please contact me!  

Where was I heading with all of this?  Oh yes....the tasting.  We had: the 12-year old DoubleWood, the 12-year old Signature, the 14-year old Caribbean Cask, the 17-year old DoubleWood, the 21-year old PortWood and the 39-year old sample drawn straight from the cask in Warehouse 24.  

39-year old Cask Strength from Warehouse 24....

liquid gold.  Seriously.

David also talked about Tun 1401, a special bottling of some of the rarest whiskies in Warehouse 24.  Jeff asked if we could "nose the bottle"....and David poured us four samples to share.  It's an incredibly complex whisky....selected from seven traditional whisky casks and two sherry butts.  The ages of these whiskies span a number of decades and were all hand-selected by David Stewart.  The whisky was then rested for several months in Tun 1401 - Balvenie's traditional oak marrying vessel.

So....in all total we tasted seven expressions of the Balvenie....all wonderful.  I want to go back.