Balvenie PortWood 13 Years Old 1991

Balvenie PortWood 13 Years Old 1991 is part of the Balvenie core range, a 13 year old single malt matured in Port casks from the Dufftown distillery under Malt Master David Stewart's longstanding cask programme. This bottling was released in 2004 for the European market at 40% ABV.

Balvenie was founded in 1892 by William Grant on the same Dufftown estate as Glenfiddich, and remains family owned by William Grant & Sons into its fifth generation. The distillery operates its own floor maltings (supplying around ten to fifteen per cent of its barley from the adjacent Balvenie Mains farm), runs an unusual setup of five wash stills feeding six spirit stills with the distinctive Balvenie Ball on the spirit still necks, and maintains an on-site cooperage.

The ex-Port pipe previously held a fortified Portuguese wine, contributing anthocyanin pigments and residual sugar that interact with the Balvenie spirit during the finishing period. Port-finished single malts typically develop dried cherry, plum and soft tannin character, with a deeper colour drawn from the cask staves.