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9th October 2014 |
The Balvenie
Tun 1509 created using 42 hand selected
casks.
 Having
been a big fan of the outstanding Balvenie Tun 1401
series since I tasted the first batch
back in 2010 I was a little surprised to
hear that The Balvenie were ending the
series and replacing it with The
Balvenie Tun 1509.
So what is the difference between the
Tun 1401 and Tun 1509? Basically it is
the size; The Balvenie had realised
capacity of the marrying vessel Tun 1401
could no longer meet the demand for the
whisky and they decided to replace it
with with with the roughly four times
bigger Tun 1509.
Like the Tun 1401, the Balvenie Tun 1509
Batch 1 is a skilful marriage of some of
the rarest treasures from the Balvenie
distillery’s warehouses which have been
brought together by Balvenie Malt Master
David Stewart. David celebrated his 50th
anniversary at The Balvenie in 2012 and
with Tun 1509 he continues to bring old
and precious whiskies together in a
single marrying vessel.
To create this first batch of Tun 1509,
David carefully hand selected 42 casks
in total – 35 traditional American
oak barrels and seven European oak
sherry butts – from the distillery’s
precious aged stocks. All were
transferred to Tun 1509, which sits in
Warehouse 24, for several months before
bottling. This is a rare interpretation
of the marrying process and allows all
42 casks to come together to create a
unique expression of The Balvenie that’s
greater than the sum of its constituent
parts.
Commenting on the release of Tun 1509,
David Stewart said: "I’ve carefully
considered each of the 42 whiskies in
turn and they all bring something
different to the table; combinations of
spice, oak, delicacy and sweetness. This
particular whisky has exceptional
character; deep and rich on the nose,
with floral notes, sweet vanilla and
orange peel. Then it’s velvety smooth to
taste with tangy citrus, mellow cinnamon
spice and blossom honey."
Each bottle of Tun 1509 comes with
in-depth detail on the whisky with
visual representations of the flavour
profile of each of the 42 constituent
casks and the overall character of the
resulting single malt.
Bottled at 47.1% and non-chill
filtered, the first batch of Tun 1509
is sure to be popular with whisky
enthusiasts, both the drinkers and the
collectors, it has a RRP of £225. With
the larger capacity of the Tun 1509
there will not be any need for separate
batches for different areas of the world
or for travel retail.
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The Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch 1 Review
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Bottled at 47.1% ABV. Non Chill
Filtered.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich oak, syrupy mandarin
orange and vanilla, sweet barley sugar.
Taste: Deliciously rich and
smooth, leading with honey and
sweet vanilla from the American Bourbon
casks which is quickly joined by the
European oak sherry butts zesty orange
peel, raisins and cinnamon.
Finish: Medium length. Stewed
pear, raisins and a little liquorice,
fading mature oak spice.
Comment:
Like its predecessor there is no huge
complexity about the Tun 1509 it is
simply a bigger number of mature very special
hand selected casks which have been
brought together in a marrying Tun to
create a quality and very pleasing
whisky. It is what I hoped it would be,
a lovely balance between the sherry and
bourbon casks, the mild sherry influence
stops the bourbon casks having too much
of a say in what's going on. The oak
spice becomes more apparent with each
mouthful and reminds you this is no
youngster but a deliciously mature
Balvenie. Lost a couple of points on the
length of the finish.
Some whisky drinkers may prefer a bigger
sherry content in the vatting, the ratio
of sherry and bourbon casks will vary
from batch to batch and this is what
makes each batch desirable, as no batch
will be exactly the same, I will
certainly look forward to future
batches.
I thought this Tun 1509 Batch 1 has a
lovely balance and is a more than worthy
replacement of the for the Tun 1401.
SMW Score
92/100
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