How much would you pay for the only bottle of a 50-year-old, single-cask-aged Balvenie whisky in India?

In 1973, on the moors of the world’s malt whisky capital — Dufftown in Scotland’s Speyside region — William Grant & Sons had assigned a special task to European oak cask number 8720 at The Balvenie distillery. It was destined to patiently house a potion for 50 long years. Though this time, the elixir, comprising just barley, yeast and water, mutated into a potent potion; it absorbed the oaky interactions with the cask that honed its texture, tone and taste. Some of it evaporated, but what remained has stood the test of time and has been titled the 125-year-old brand’s rarest whisky offerings: The Balvenie Fifty – First Edition, limited to just 125 bottles. Only one out of them is available in India.

At the whisky’s unveiling in Perbacco at The Lodhi, New Delhi, the global brand ambassador of The Balvenie, Charles Metcalfe, says, “This whisky has been aged in a European oak sherry cask. This cask was used previously to mature sherry in Spain. We then brought it over and used it to mature Balvenie.” Charles suggests that casks are fundamental to old whiskies as their building blocks of flavour. “So everything has to be in balance to create truly exceptional old whisky. And that’s our malt master, Kelsey McKechnie’s job,” he adds.

The key to maintaining this balance, he says, is to not allow the oak to take over completely. Detailing the process, he explains, “We have to pull a very small sample out of the cask and it will be nosed; it will be assessed. We’ll check a number of things — the flavour on the nose and the palate and we’ll make sure that the ABV (alcohol by volume) of the whisky is still at a point that we’re happy with. If it goes too close to 40%, or below 40%, it’s now no longer legally considered a Scotch whisky. We have to keep it above 40. This is one of the things that the stars need to align to create a whisky like this. The only thing we can do is make sure that it’s coopered and stored well. The rest is up to the whisky gods.”

The Balvenie made its way to India in 2018. Prior to that, the brand was available only via the global travel retail channel at select Duty Free shops. Sachin Mehta, managing director at William Grant & Sons, India & Subcontinent, says that the brand, which also makes the famous Glenfiddich, is testing the waters in India. It has also launched nine bottles each of The Balvenie 25 and The Balvenie 30. “India is new to The Balvenie, which is why we have only one bottle of The Balvenie Fifty for sale here and it is as exclusive and rare as it gets,” he shares. Talking about all that makes India a favourable market for high-end whisky brands, he admits to the population’s changing perception of luxury. “When it comes to alcohol preference, the scales have always tilted towards whisky and with exposure, knowledge and accessibility, more and more Indians are warming up to an ultra-luxe segment of handcrafted whisky. It is not just the product, but also the story behind it that dictates their choices,” he says.

The Balvenie Fifty delivers aromas of cassis, candied apricots, cedar, and warm spice, followed by a rich palate of caramelised fruits, soft vanilla, and a delicate ginger finish — all anchored by The Balvenie’s signature honeyed profile. This complexity of flavours, says Charles, is the defining curve of any good whisky. “Certainly age is one of the deciding factors of a fine whisky, but a lot depends on how deep and complex the flavours are. Organoleptically, the honey-sweet flavour of Balvenie stands out, for me,” he says. To get these flavours, Charles stresses on coopering, coppersmithing, farming, whisky making, nosing of the whisky and storage. The barley, he says is sourced from a 100-acre farm that surrounds the distillery. “Also, Balvenie uses only two casks: American oak ex-bourbon cask and European oak ex-sherry casks. We have our own team for cooperage. For storage, a lovely, cold, damp Scottish warehouse would be ideal,” he quips.

The Balvenie Fifty comes in a bottle packaged and crafted in collaboration with Croglin workshop, Cumbria, known for its handcrafted, detailed woodwork. The most striking feature has to be the helix structure of layered wood with tolerances below one-tenth of a millimetre, and a 14-carat gold-plated brass display, making the bottle as remarkable as the liquid it holds.

The only bottle of The Balvenie Fifty in India is now available in Gurugram and is priced between ₹60lakh and ₹75lakh

Published – August 09, 2025 02:11 PM is