The Balvenie has announced that the final chapter in its Compendium series, The Balvenie DCS Compendium Chapter Five “Malt Master’s Indulgence,” will be released this month for a cool $80,000. This series is comprised of various vintages that are personally selected by malt master David Stewart, one of the longest-tenured professionals in the Scotch whisky industry. As indicated by the name, this final release is a nod to the freedom Stewart has enjoyed as malt master to select any cask he deems fit to set aside and further age for decades if he sees potential there.
The lineup of the final chapter consists of five different whiskies: a 1962 vintage (56 years old) aged in a European oak Oloroso sherry hogshead in commemoration of Stewart’s first year working at The Balvenie; a 1974 vintage (44 years old) aged in a refill American oak barrel that marks the year Stewart was appointed malt master; a 1983 vintage (35 years old) aged in a refill American oak hogshead that celebrates the year Stewart began tinkering around with various styles of maturation; a 2001 vintage (18 years old) matured in a European oak Fino sherry butt meant to celebrate the latitude Stewart has been granted throughout his career; and the youngest, a 2002 vintage (16 years old) aged in a first-fill American oak bourbon barrel that is a tribute to Stewart’s reintroduction of peat into the production process with The Week of Peat. Only 50 sets are available globally, each presented in an oak frame crafted by Scottish designer Sam Chinnery, and accompanied by The Balvenie DCS Compendium book written by former global ambassador Dr. Samuel J. Simmons.
“It takes a good deal of time to understand how each cask differs and how whisky maturation is affected by various wood types,” said Stewart in a prepared statement. “Working for a family company, I’ve been lucky enough to have been given the freedom to make stock decisions based on my preference and vision, with the free rein to pick casks and hold on to whisky, not always knowing what I’m going to do with it, for no other reason than thinking one day it will be extraordinary. For me, this is indulgence in its truest form.”
The only whisky available separately from the Compendium is the 1962 vintage, for an SRP of $47,000. The entire Compendium is available for $80,000. Contact The Balvenie for more information.
