Balvenie 15 years old Single Barrel 1981/1998 Cask No 777 Single Malt Scotch Whisky 100 cl 50,4%

Cask number 777. It looks like something made up for the occasion, but the number sat on the barrel long before anyone thought of selling the whisky as a single cask. Seventeen years later it went into litre bottles.

The expert's description

Balvenie 15 Single Barrel Cask No. 777 is a Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in one single oak cask and bottled at 50.4 % in litre format.

The cask went into the warehouse on 3 February 1981 and was drawn on 9 April 1998. The outturn was 300 bottles, and the whisky is neither chill filtered nor coloured. The bottling falls in the period when Balvenie began giving its single casks a place of their own in the range.

Seventeen years passed between filling and bottling, even though the label states fifteen years. The age statement refers to the guaranteed minimum age on the bottle, and the gap tells you the cask stood a little longer than it had to before anyone found it.

Tasting notes

Nose

Honey, ripe pear and pale oak. A note of almond and dried flowers emerges after a couple of minutes in the glass.

Palate

Full and sweet with vanilla, honey and candied ginger. The oak is clear but soft, and the alcohol is carried well.

Finish

Long, warm and lightly spiced with a last touch of honey sweetness.

Specifications

Name: Balvenie 15 år Single Barrel Cask No. 777
Distillery: Balvenie
Region/Country: Speyside, Scotland
Type: Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 15 years
ABV: 50,4 %
Size: 100 CL
Cask type: Oak cask, Cask No. 777
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Natural colour: Yes
Distilled: 3 February 1981
Bottled: 9 April 1998
Number of bottles: 300
EAN no.: 5010327518138

Flavour profile

Honeyed · Fruity · Full bodied · Spiced · Soft

Investment potential

High. A 1981 cask in 300 bottles, drawn in 1998 and in a litre format no longer produced. Early Balvenie Single Barrel bottlings are sought after, and unopened bottles grow scarcer with every passing year.

Did you know?

Balvenie sits right next to Glenfiddich, and the two distilleries share an owner, a water source and part of the site in Dufftown. The spirits are still markedly different, because still shape, fermentation and cask policy are not the same.

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Frequently asked questions about Balvenie 15 Single Barrel 1981/1998

Why does it say 15 years when the cask lay for 17?

The age statement on a whisky bottle is the guaranteed minimum age. If the cask lies longer, the producer may keep the lower figure, and that happened often in the 1990s when series carried fixed age designations.

How many bottles of Cask 777 exist?

Three hundred bottles were made from the cask. No more will follow, and every time one is opened the remainder grow rarer.

Is it better than the other 15 year old single casks?

Better is hard to say, different is easier. Cask 777 is more honeyed and fruity and sits closer to what people expect from Speyside, where the 1980 cask is drier and waxier. Which suits you depends on whether you prefer sweetness or structure.

What should I look for when buying an old bottle?

The fill level in the neck, the state of the cork and the condition of the label. If the level has dropped well below the shoulder, the bottle has probably stood warm or had a leaking cork. Photographs of neck and back label usually say more than the description.

Does it work as a gift?

For the right recipient, yes. A bottle with a cask number, date and outturn tells its own story, and that is hard to match with a standard bottling. For someone who has just started drinking whisky I would pick something else.

How do you serve a whisky at 50.4 %?

Start neat in a tulip-shaped whisky glass and give it five minutes. Then add a couple of drops at a time if you want the fruit further forward. Ice is not forbidden, but it closes down a fair share of the aromatics.