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William Grant ‘reinterprets’ Balvenie Classic for TR

William Grant & Sons has unveiled a trio of travel retail-exclusive Balvenie single malt whiskies as part of its Stories range – including a “reinterpretation” of The Balvenie Classic.

The Balvenie Stories range will be available exclusively in global travel retail from June 2020

The three new whiskies in The Balvenie Stories collection were unveiled at the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes, France, on Monday (30 September), and will launch exclusively in global travel retail in June 2020.

The range will comprise of The Creation of the Classic, The Week of Peat and The Second Red Rose.

The Creation of the Classic is a no-age-statement whisky that pays homage to David Stewart MBE, The Balvenie malt master and longest serving malt master in the industry. Stewart created the first cask-finished whisky back in the 1980s with The Balvenie Classic.

The Creation of the Classic has been matured in American oak casks and finished in oloroso Sherry casks. It has an ABV of 43% and will be priced at RRP of £57 (US$70).

“The idea was to bring the Classic back and revisit those flavours,” Stewart said about its creation.

The Week of Peat is an “evolution” of the brand’s 14-year-old The Balvenie Peat Week, which launched worldwide in 2017.

The latest whisky was inspired by the production break taken by Stewart and former distillery manager Ian Millar once a year, for a week, to add peat to the barley drying process.

Bottled at 49.4% ABV, the whisky is said to balance sweet peat smoke with notes of citrus and honey. It will have an RRP of £115 (US$142).

Completing the collection is The Second Red Rose, which has been aged for 21 years and finished in Shiraz casks.

The whisky was inspired by Mary Douglas, who lived in Balvenie Castle and paid rent to King James II by payment of a single red rose each year. It will have a pink – or “rosy” – tinge due to the influence of the red wine casks.

The ABV is yet to be confirmed, but it will “probably be in the low 50s”, according to Stewart. It will be priced at £235 (US$290).

“The Balvenie Distillery is built on stories,” said Stewart. “It’s what sets us apart and makes our whisky what it is.

“Each expression in the Stories range has a distinct narrative as to how it came to be, and each whisky tells its unique tale in liquid form through first-hand recollections of the many characters involved.”

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