Whisky Focus - Balvenie Brings Craftsmanship To Life At Aberdeen Airport

Kilt maker Beverley Scarlett took centre stage at Aberdeen Airport during The Balvenie tastings this month.

Over four days this month, William Grant & Sons Global Travel Retail Europe, Aberdeen International Airport and World Duty Free Group hosted an activity to showcase the link between The Balvenie handcrafted Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and the practice and preservation of traditional crafts.

During the month highly-regarded kilt maker Beverley Scarlett took centre stage at Aberdeen Airport to demonstrate the traditional art of hand-stitched kilts. Having learned her craft from one of the last tailors and master kilt makers for the Scottish Regiments, Beverley was involved in developing the National Occupational Standards for Kilt Making and the SVQ in Traditional Handcraft Kilt-Making Skills.

In addition to the kilt-making display, tastings of The Balvenie Triple Cask range of travel retail exclusive whiskies were offered to departing passengers. The activity coincided with the Offshore Europe Conference & Exhibition, a biannual event that attracted over 55,000 attendees from the oil and gas industry to Aberdeen.

The promotion proved to be very popular amongst travellers passing through Aberdeen airport, with weekly sales of The Balvenie whiskies in the World Duty Free store up 228% versus the same period last year and well above the overall malt whisky sales increase of 27% at Aberdeen Airport.

The Balvenie Triple Cask travel retail range comprises of The Balvenie Triple Cask 12 year old, 16 year old and 25 year old variants.

The Balvenie Triple Cask 12 year old is smooth and sweet on the nose with elegant layers of honey and spice. To taste, notes of dried fruits and oak combine with vanilla and cinnamon. The finish is warm and mellow. rich and complex on the nose with hints of vanilla sweetness. Delicate fruits play with toffee, oak tannin and mellow spice on the palate. The finish is gentle and lingering.

The Balvenie Triple Cask 25 year old is deep, rich and complex on the nose with overtures of oak and spice. Upon tasting, sweet honey coats the mouth before giving way to deliciously silky oak and spice. The finish is exceptionally long and warming.

William Grant & Sons director Europe travel retail Andre de Almeida said: "The character and exceptional quality of The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky is due to the fact that the distillery retains a level of craftsmanship that other malt whisky producers no longer tend to employ. It is this unbreakable bond between the maker and its product that we wanted to showcase at Aberdeen Airport as it highlights the importance of the craft – whether making the best example of hand-stitched kilts or the epitome of craftsmanship: The Balvenie."

Today, The Balvenie Distillery really does keep traditional craftsmanship alive, it is the only distillery to grow its own barley, have traditional floors for malting the barley, a team of coopers mending and preparing every cask, a coppersmith to tend the stills and a Malt Master to hand select its whiskies for bottling.

If you will not be lucky enough to be passing through an airport anytime soon then why not visit the specialist online whisky shop The Whisky Exchange who often somehow manage to get hold of the whiskies in The Balvenie Triple Cask range.
 

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