Signature craft
Ian Buxton meets the man behind Balvenie's style
With more than 45 years in the whisky industry, remarkably with just one company, youâd expect David Stewart to think carefully before putting his signature on a bottle.
And youâd be entitled to expect that bottle to be pretty special. Thankfully, though perhaps naturally for a man described by his colleagues as âmodest and unassumingâ, it isnât some ritzy £1,000 bottle destined for Moscowâs nouveau riche.
In fact, David Stewartâs Signature can be yours for a perfectly reasonable £30 or so, when itâs released shortly in the UK. The full title tells all. The Balvenie Signature single malt is a âlimited releaseâ from William Grant & Sonsâ Speyside distillery that David, the companyâs master blender, has been patiently crafting for some little while.
This is a vatting of three cask types, all 12 years old: first fill bourbon barrels, refill casks and sherry butts which are then rested in Balvenieâs Dufftown marrying vats for between three to four months.
So itâs a topical reminder that most single malts, apart of course from single cask bottlings, are vatted (or blended) prior to bottling.
The balance of the cask selection has been judicious and subtle â there is just enough sherry wood in there to lend body and delightful fruit cake flavours, but not so much as to overwhelm the vanilla sweetness and spicy notes coming from the ex-bourbon barrels. It provides a contrast to the Balvenie DoubleWood, which is more direct and forceful in style (D.....
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By Ian Buxton
Section : Whisky People
Page number : 22
