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Experience November 19

Ballantines 17 years

It is a whiskey with a considerable and distinguished history, but undervalued both in the Mexican market and at home. This for a brand whose motto is "Leave an impression" which can be translated as "Leave a mark" is somewhat ironic.

Ballantine's 17 years is a mix of luxury whose style is not fully understood by the English market, but highly popular in the Asian market and a brand that you can easily find in duty free.

Ballantine's name honors its founder George Ballantine, one of the whiskey giants of the Victorian era. George Ballantine comes from a family of farmers on the outskirts of Edinburgh. One morning in 1822, Archibald Ballantine had dressed in his finery before leaving his Broughton-Home farm for the 25-mile trek to Edinburgh with his 13-year-old son, George Ballantine, carrying an overnight bag. Father and son had an appointment with a solicitor to sign young George's apprenticeship papers to work for the next five years with Andrew Hunter, an Edinburgh grocer and grocer.

That year in which a lawyer, a grocer and a farmer signed a contract on the future of a young boy, was momentous in many ways. It marked the beginning of a career that would bear his name throughout the world. Edinburgh dressed up to receive the corpulent figure of King George IV, who made a ceremonial visit to make peace with Scotland. A fairer licensing system was passed that would end illicit distillation for years to come. Giving way to new legal distilleries forever changing the economic scene of Scotland.

During the following years George Ballantine learned about the grocer's trade, customer service, distinguishing products, carrying sacks of flour, oatmeal, etc. While gaining knowledge of what was a good wine and a good whiskey from master Andrew Hunter. At the end of the 5-year contract, the 19-year-old George opted for entrepreneurship. His teacher wished him good luck and recommended him as a young man who had served him "faithfully, assiduously and honestly" during his apprenticeship.

George searched for premises within the reach of his humble budget and opened his first store in Edinburgh's Cowgate. A bustling shopping district of narrow alleys, hayrides, and inns packed with shepherds. It is curious to think that one of the world's largest whiskey companies with a presence in more than 160 countries would emerge from such an unlikely environment.

In just 4 years, George opened his second store near Candlemakers Row where he began selling wine. 5 years later at the age of 28 he had raised enough capital to expand into the prestigious neighborhood of South Bridge, just around the corner from “Princess Walk” or “Princes Street”, very close to the heart of Edinburgh and the nobility.

Scotland was experiencing a real economic boom at the time, from which George Ballantine's business benefited. Surely his store on the corner of Princes Street would have been stocked from floor to ceiling with pulses, oatmeal and smoked salmon, a wide selection of food for the connoisseur and shelf after shelf of wine and whiskey. George had risen to such a degree that in 1842 he married Isabella Mann, the daughter of an Inverness grain merchant, and settled in the most fashionable district in George Square. This is where the art of blending whiskey really took shape. George was first and foremost a merchant, he knew how to predict the evolution of the market, so much so that in 1853 he supported his friend and fellow grocer, Andrew Usher, (who is known as the first whiskey blender, discoverer of whiskey from mixture).

The idea of mixing was not entirely new. Spirits merchants and tavern owners at the lower end of the market had been quietly blending cheap whiskeys for some time to boost their profits. However, George knew that what Andrew Usher had set out to achieve was a product greater than the sum of its constituent parts.

"On the one hand, people had tried to produce a cheaper version of the malt by adulterating it," explains Bill Bergius, director of business relations for Ballantine's and a direct descendant of the Teacher whiskey family. 'At the time, there was no law about what Scotch whiskey should be. Some unscrupulous merchants even diluted the whiskey with neutral Spanish spirit to increase their profits.

So the creation of Usher was a revelation, George left Edinburgh in 1865, leaving his business in the hands of his eldest son to set up a new business in Glasgow with his other son. He quickly developed the spirits trade, achieving a good clientele in England and Ireland and even exporting whiskeys to other countries, whose blend he supervised himself.

 

Still growing, George Ballantine's business was left after the First World War, with no successors to take over the business. It was Barclay and McKinlay, who resumed the company's activities. They are credited with the birth of the Ballantine's brand since neither George Ballantine nor his successors had previously used the family name as a brand, despite their well-earned reputation, often selling blends under the name of the original whiskey.

Barclay and McKinlay continued to develop the company, with a particular focus on whisky, acquiring new distilleries and storage cellars throughout Scotland. They devoted themselves to export, particularly to the USA, where they were very successful until Prohibition and the financial crash of 1929. They judged it prudent to sell the company to the Hiram Walker group in 1937.

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A year later, the new owners gave Ballantine's a new grain still and other malt stills. In 1987, Ballantine's was taken over by the British group Allied Lyons, which already owned major brands (Teacher's, Long John, etc.). As the last step in the internationalization of the business, Allied Lyons merged in 1994 with the Pedro Domeq group. The rest is recent history Pedro Domeq merges and gives life to the current Pernod Richard.

Between an astute marketing campaign and the skills of its Master Blender, Sandy Hyslop, Ballantine's has established itself among the tastes of today's consumers. Fortunately, Sandy Hyslop has the means at his disposal to ensure perfect continuity in the quality of his mix. It has over 14 malt distilleries, two grain distilleries (Dumbarton and Strathclyde) and maturation cellars spread across different parts of Scotland to choose from. The experience and criteria of the Master Blender offer us this excellent whiskey that Ian Buxton has selected as one of the 101 whiskeys to try before you die.

Color:shiny gold

Nose:Round, balanced, sweet and slightly smoked notes.

Mouth:Soft notes of vanilla, it shows us the balance of the wood, the smoke and the creaminess. Its roundness is very pleasantly surprising for a 40% whiskey after being cold filtered.

Aftertaste:medium and soft, it leaves notes of its marine character.

The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask

Located in Dufftown, the whiskey capital of Speyside, The Balvenie distillery takes its name from the Balvenie mansion, a castle that sits on the hill overlooking the town just 800 meters from the distillery.

Balvenie Castle whose history dates back to the 12th century when Marjory, daughter of Fergus, the last Celtic heiress, married William Comyn, third Earl of Buchan, who ordered it to be built.

Since its construction, the castle has been host to many stories, events and kings such as Queen Mari of the Scots and King Edward I of England. The castle experienced tragic stories, rivalries, murders, fratricides and suicides, as well as the destructive power of the fight between the clans. Most of what we see today is the reconstruction done by the Stewart family, but that will be a story for another time.

However, the possible inspiration for naming the distillery Balvenie is due to the story of John Stewart, Lady Margaret, The Fair Maid of Galloway and King James II.

Lady Margaret, The Fair Maid of Galloway is said to have been a woman of exceptional beauty, the daughter of Archibald Douglas, Earl of Douglas and Eupheme Graham, Countess of Strathearn. His life will be plagued with murder and death. Among the most relevant is the death of his brothers in Edinburgh Castle, this episode is known as the Black Dinner. (Historical fact that inspired George RR Martin to create the episode of the red wedding where Walter Frey, during the wedding dinner between Edmure Tully and his daughter Roslin Frey, kills Robb Stark, Lady Catelyn and all their vassals. In the televised series was season 3 episode 9, “The Rains of Castamere”).

Following the death of her elder brothers, Lady Margaret inherits the lands of Galloway and marries her cousin heir to the Earldom of Douglas, but is also assassinated by King James II (it is worth mentioning that her brothers were killed when the king was young). ) by not wanting to obey his orders (26 stabbed and thrown out the castle window). The reason the Douglas family had good economic power due to their ties in France and was supporting the English crown.

Later, her brother James Douglas, after receiving a papal dispensation, marries her to consolidate the power of the family and takes up arms against King James II. James is defeated and flees to England.

King James II of Scotland belongs to the House of Stewarts, so John Stewart could be considered one of his cousins and apparently his favorite at court. The King marries Lay Margaret to John Stewart and grants them Balvenie Castle in 1455, on one condition. The crown (the King) would charge them a red rose for rent. It is said that the rose had two meanings, the first was a proof of John Stewart's loyalty and security and the other was because John receiving the land would no longer be able to spend time with the king at court.

Interestingly, the rent continued to be paid for 250 years (rent that after 100 years increased to 2 roses, an example that even in medieval times there was inflation).

For many years, The Balvenie bottle featured the rose as an allegory to this story. Currently the rose is still included in the coat of arms that is reproduced on its labels.

The Balvenie Distillery is the second distillery of William Grants & Sons, founded in 1892, just 8 years after Glenfiddich. The distilleries share the same water from the Robbie Dhub spring, but their profiles are different. The Balvenie bottle simulates the shape of a malting oven door, reminding us of the difference between distilleries.

The master blender is David C. Steward can be considered one of the living legends of Scotch whisky. David Steward began working for William Grant at the age of 17 in 1962 where after two years working as a salesman and assistant to the company's master blender, he began his journey into the secrets of "the nose" to look for, what should and should not be there, the style of our own products, such as mature whiskey. After 12 years as a trainee at the age of 29 in 1974 he had the opportunity to be the nose of the company and has been dedicated to that ever since. With a career spanning more than 50 years and over 400,000 whiskeys tasted, David C. Steward is undoubtedly a whiskey legend.

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By the way, enjoy these whiskeys that possibly in the not so distant future, we will have a new Master Blender at Balvenie. Kelsey McKechnie is David Steward's apprentice and has been with him for about 5 years already, considering that Brian Kinsman current Master Blender at Glenfiddich was trained by David for 8 years, it probably won't be long before he takes his place.

Why have we selected this expression?

The answer is simple, it is a David Steward recipe, created in a very original way.

Matured in American oak barrels and finished in rum barrels. The difference with the finished compared to Benriach 15 years, Teeling Rum Cask and others finished in Rum, lies in the fact that it is not a specific rum of a well-known brand. David Steward created his own blend of rums from the Indies and matured them in that barrel, eventually the rum was replaced by whiskey resulting in this bottle with notes of toffee, fruit and vanilla.

Color:copper

Nose:Rich, sweet, toffee and notes of fresh fruit

Mouth:Round, creamy, notes of vanilla and barrel with green fruits

Aftertaste:Warm, soft and long

The Macallan Edition No. 4

The Macallan Distillery was founded in 1824 by Alexander Reid, a tenant of Easter Elchies and originally the distillery was called Elchies. Upon his death in 1847, the lease was sold to James Priest and James Davidson, a corn merchant, who was the sole owner until 1868, when the property was sold to James Stuart.

James Stuart realized that funds were needed to invest in the distillery and went into partnership with Robert Dick and William Grant, (who would later become the first directors of Highland Distillers). After more than 20 years, in 1892, Stuart sold the distillery to Rodney Kemp.

Rodney Kemp was a self-made man who was a successful wine merchant in Elgin. Interesting fact, Kemp was a part owner of the Talisker Distillery prior to acquiring the Stuart Distillery. He rebuilt the distillery, increased production and renamed the distillery "Macallan-Glenlivet". In the 1880s, Alfred Barnard (Alfred Barnard 1837-1918, was a whiskey writer, critic and historian, recorded as having visited 162 distilleries during his career) visited the distillery and it would be recorded as "Macallan".

Upon Rodney's death in 1909, his descendants continued the distillery. They changed the business model and created a Trust (in Mexico the figure closest to the Trust is the fideicomiso, close but not the same). Between 1909 and 1846, Macallan was considered among the blends of whiskey (whisky blends). The years 1932-33 and 1943 were the only times the distillery stopped producing, which is reasonable as the world was in turmoil from World War II and the whiskey industry was no exception.

In 1946 the Trust changed its name to "R Kemp Macallan-Glenlivet Ltd" and became a public company in 1966. Leaving the company in the hands of the shareholders, this took the distillery into a new phase. In the 1950s the distillery underwent a total rebuild, which included a new house with two wash stills and three distillation stills, as well as new storerooms. In subsequent years, the stills gradually increased until reaching 21 in 1975 with a production that exceeded one million gallons.

In 1996 Highland Distillers entered into a partnership with the Japanese company Suntory which would facilitate the Edrington group taking over Highland Distillers in 1999 and taking the decision to remove Macallan from the public offering in 2001. Since then the Edrington group has owned this historic distillery. The growth plans for Macallan continue and this brand will continue to give us excellent whiskey and something to talk about for several years to come.

 

Edition No. 4 of the “Macallan Edition Series” Collection was launched on the market in 2018. With The Macallan Edition No. 4, the distillery returns to the origins of the collection. Edition No. 2 was a collaboration with the restaurant El Celler de Can Roca and Edition No. 3 was with perfume master Roja Dove, the fourth expression did not require any collaboration. The first expressions focused on the influence of the barrel in color and flavor, the third edition in its aromas and this fourth expression in the structure, in the body of the whisky. According to the distillery: "It draws parallels between the construction of the new distillery and the path we took in creating a new single malt." Edition No. 4 was created by Nick Savage, Master Distiller at The Macallan

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To create The Macallan Edition No. 4, different barrels created by Spanish coopers have been used. They form the basis of the whisky, Tevasa sherry casks. Hogshead (225-250 litres) and Butts (478-500 litres) To shape the structure, European oak barrels from José and Miguel Martín and Diego Martín Rosado have been used. (Butts). To give it a final touch, American oak barrels from Vasyma, impregnated in Sherry (Hogshead) and second-fill American and European oak barrels have been used.

 

Color:Burnished Copper

Nose:Bold and rounded honey with a sweet note of apple. Orange zest follows a background of ginger and nutmeg. Robust and polished mature oak appears at the end in contrast to subtle green wood and floral nuances.

Mouth:Nutmeg with wood spices and green clove opens immediately, with a calm that follows the intense beginnings, leaving a layer of sweet and viscous vanilla on the palate.

Aftertaste:Fruity with oak sweetness, long and lasting

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