A distinguished trio of single malts were featured at a recent downtown tasting.

On Tuesday, May 10, the Washington Athletic Club hosted a tasting engagement for The Balvenie, one of the most eminent whisky labels in Scotland. A handful of invited guests were on hand to sip three select single malts — and a few lucky Seattleite staff members were among them. The event was part of a nationwide promotion to introduce a distinguished brand to a wider North American audience. 

As explained to the audience by enthusiastic Balvenie Ambassador Nicholas Pollacchi, this is no ordinary whisky. The Balvenie has a storied legacy, beginning on May Day, 1893, when the distillery yielded its first batch of fine single malt whisky. Since then, the label has remained under Balvenie family ownership — the second oldest scotch label to do so, after Glenfiddich.

The Balvenie is sustained in part by the land that surrounds the distillery, roughly a thousand acres of which is entirely devoted to the growth and cultivation of premium barley. David Stewart, The Balvenie Malt Master, is another key component. He has retained his position for more than 30 years, which earns him distinction as the longest-tenured malt master for a single scotch brand in history.

When it came time to sample The Balvenie, Pollacchi gave his audience a thorough demonstration on how to properly taste scotch whisky. Before sipping, he explained, one must enjoy the aroma of this fine spirit by resting their nose on the interior of the glass and taking a healthy whiff. Another method is to place one’s palm on the rim of the glass, shake until the spirit splashes onto the skin and then smell the underside of the hand — or ‘Scottish cologne,’ as Pollacchi called it. Once the spirit has reached the lips, he instructed, one mustn’t swallow right away. Rather, a fine swishing is required to fully enjoy the complexity of its flavor.

The ambassador eagerly introduced each of the three scotch samplings. The Caribbean Cask had been aged for 14 years in solid oak casks once used to store imported rum, which gave it a light taste imbued with a fruity, spicy flavor. The PortWood 21 Year Old was a favorite among the Seattleite peeps, though it seems we were not alone in our assessment; this richly-flavored whisky earned top honors from both the International Spirits Challenge and the International Wine & Spirits Competition in 2009.  The gem of the evening was The Balvenie Forty, aged four long decades to perfection yet blessed with a surprisingly smooth finish.

Remember The Balvenie next time you have an empty glass, a few ice cubes and an irrepressible urge to cry out the classic Scottish toast, “Slainte mhath (slanj uh-va)!”