The Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 750ml

Manufacturer's Notes: This single malt has been matured exclusively in a FIRST FILL EX-BOURBON BARREL for at least TWELVE YEARS. Our Malt Master carefully samples the aged whisky, cask by cask. He will only select single malt characterized by sweetness and subtle vanilla oak to be bottled as The Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. The CRAFT of whisky-making and the alchemy of cask, spirit and time are embodied perfectly by THE BALVENIE SINGLE BARREL. Each cask tells its own story and its yield is, by nature, one of a kind. The Balvenie Distillery remains totally dedicated to the traditions, care and craftsmanship of malt whisky making and has been owned and managed by the same independent family company for five generations. We understand the importance of using the finest oak casks. Indeed, casks are so important to the taste of The Balvenie that we entrust their care only to our on-site craftsmen. Our coopers possess check the quality of all the casks we use and make any necessary repairs to ensure they are secure, watertight and ready to be filled with new make spirit. Our coopers possess skills that have been passed down through the generations and the tools they use are often as old as the craft itself. The Balvenie Single Barrel derives its name from the fact that it is drawn from a single cask of a single distillation. No two casks - even of the same type and filled with new make from the same distillation - will produce an identical single malt, so each bottling of The Balvenie Single Barrel forms a limited edition, with each hand-numbered bottle carrying the number of the cask in which it was matured. Tasting Notes __________ Whilst no two casks will ever produce an identical single malt, because of the careful sampling and selection by our Malt Master, The Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill has a consistent character that is rich and complex with a deep vanilla oakiness. Honey notes are overlaid with sweet fruits and subtle spices. The finish is lingeringly sweet. The majority of casks used for maturing Scotch whisky are ex-bourbon barrels brought over from America. These barrels are made fo a species of oak called Quercus alba, also known as White oak, through perhaps most commonly as American Oak. And when used for the first time to mature Scotch whisky, they are termed first fill. Before being used to mature bourbon their insides are toasted and charred, breaking up the wood, enabling maturing spirit to penetrate the oak more readily. This thin layer of char has an important influence on our maturing Balvenie spirit, removing less desirable natural elements, while the toast layer which lies beneath the char imparts Flavours such as vanillin, tannins and spice. In order to retain its full character, The Balvenie Single Barrel is not chill-filtered. At lower temperatures, or on the addition of water, a slight haze may occasionally develop. This is perfectly natural and does not in any way impair the quality of the single malt