Eager to experiment with The Balvenie profile using what he had learnt from a recent trip to Islay, distillery manager Ian Millar ordered a batch of Speyside peat for the kiln. For a week a year, The Balvenie distills a batch of peated malt, resulting in a whisky rich in honey, vanilla and citrus notes with an extra layer of delicate smokiness. Comprising three single malts, The Balvenie Stories range includes a 12 year old The Sweet Toast of American Oak, 14 year old The Week of Peat and 26 year old A Day of Dark Barley. Each expression has been designed to tell the stories of the workers at the distillery, including apprentice malt master Kelsey McKechnie’s use of Kentucky virgin oak to create a fruitier Balvenie whisky; former distillery manager Ian Millar introducing peat smoke to this well-known Speyside malt and malt master David Stewart MBE use of an “unusually brittle” barley.