The Balvenie Craft Bar Sydney & The Balvenie TUN 1509 (Tasted #143)

The Balvenie Craft Bar is back once again, this time in Sydney to celebrate fine Australian craftsmanship along with the well handcrafted single malt Scotch whisky we all love, The Balvenie.

Hosted in the spacious and elegant Zenith Interiors in the heart of Surry Hills, the exclusive Balvenie Craft Bar is only open for a limited time (literally - between today and Thursday 20 November 2014, between 4pm and 6pm) and will showcase workmanship from a host of craftspeople including Keith Marshall, bike maker of Kumo Cycles, Allan Tomkins, guitar maker and many others.

 

What's more, The Balvenie range is also being showcased along with all the fine products on point -- transforming the space into a Museum of Craft of sort. Tonight, we were graced with:

• The Balvenie 12 YO DoubleWood;
• The Balvenie 14 YO Caribbean Cask;
• The Balvenie 17 YO DoubleWood; and
• The Balvenie TUN 1509 (taking over from its older brethren, the TUN 1401 series)

The Balvenie TUN 1509 was a nice little surprise, having seen the clever packaging with its use of infographic (to visualise the level of spiciness, oakiness, delicacy and sweetness) a few months back -- tonight, we got to taste the first batch of the 1509.

Balvenie Tun 1509 (47.1% ABV, NAS, Speyside, Scotland, $420AUD)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colour: Gold
Nose: Plenty of bourbon in this batch with the unmissable oakiness, vanilla, salted caramel. Rich
Palate: Warm, silky and rich, raisins, butterscotch and loads of spices
Finish: Long, hint of toffee, old oak, slightly leathery
Rating (on Hendy's very non-scientific scale): 91/100. My first Tun and quite an exciting one this was.

The TUN 1509 outrun is fairly limited with just 200 bottles globally and around 60 bottles allocated to Australia (notwithstanding the three bottles emptied tonight). Nevertheless, if you do get your hands on one, this is a particularly exciting release -- given a mix of around 6:1 ex bourbon / sherry casks selected by David Stewart (35 ex bourbon to 7 ex-sherry) with the output giving out plenty of surprises.

For tickets to this exclusive Balvenie Craft Bar event, please visit the Balvenie Facebook page or visit http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-balvenie-craft-museum-tickets-13251267899?aff=es2&rank=1 to register.

- Hendy.