Balvenie 17 Year Old Week of Peat

Peated whisky isn’t the first thing you might think of when you hear the name Speyside. But a trip to the island of Islay inspired Balvenie distillery manager Ian Miller to reappraise the region’s relationship with smoke. He sourced peat from the village of New Pitsligo, an hour east of Dufftown, and began experimenting with it in the Balvenie maltings. Through careful trials, he and the rest of the team were able to produce whisky that wrapped the classic distillery character in a blanket of smoke. As a result, the kilns at Balvenie now burn peat for one week a year at the end of the distilling season – hence, the week of peat.

One of the original seven stills of Dufftown, Balvenie has been in business since 1892. It’s storied history is full of experimentation, a spirit of curiosity that has been passed down through the generations. Though the distillery boasts an open-minded approach to distilling and maturation, it also maintains a connection with tradition. Today it is one of only seven distilleries in Scotland to operate a floor maltings on-site. It’s not the easiest way to get malted barley, or the cheapest, but having direct control over the raw materials has allowed Balvenie to remain creative. The experiments taking place there today are sure to become the Balvenie stories of tomorrow.