Ballantine’s unveils 40YO whisky range
Pernod Ricard-owned Ballantine's Scotch whisky has created a new series of 40-year-old expressions to celebrate the brand’s master blenders.
The Masterclass Collection is an ‘ultra-limited’ series of five annual releases of Ballantine’s 40 Year Old whisky. Only 108 bottles of the first expression in the series, called The Remembering, have been produced. The range is the work of Ballantine's master blenders Jack Goudy and Sandy Hyslop, with Goudy holding the position of master blender between 1959 and 1994, and Hyslop taking over the role until the present day. Hyslop said: “This is an incredibly special and poignant collection to work on, as I was taken back to my early days spent in the warehouse with Jack. "The fact that Jack nosed these whiskies holds special significance, and this first chapter is a tribute to the distinctive character of Ballantine’s and the guidance and inspiration on which I’ve built my own skills. "The lessons I learnt from Jack are repeated to my own team now, and they’ll be continued to be passed on in years to come.” The range, which includes rare whiskies from ghost distilleries, has kicked-off with the launch of The Remembering, created to mark Hyslop’s 40th anniversary in the industry. The blend has spent 40 years maturing in oak casks, and is ‘both complex and harmonious’. The Remembering takes influence from the whisky of the now closed Dumbarton Distillery, where Hyslop took his first learnings from Goudy in his journey to becoming a master blender. The distillery was also where traditional Coffey stills were used, resulting in a creamy smooth character enhanced with an ‘opulent sweetness’ from maturation in American oak casks. The whisky presents notes of spiced red apple, warming clove spice, and lavish toffee. Liya Zhang, vice-president of marketing at Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail, commented: “We’re very proud to unveil the new Ballantine’s 40 Year Old Masterclass Collection in travel retail. "Deeply rooted in heritage and commitment to outstanding quality, we’re confident these new ultra-limited releases will delight travellers and whisky enthusiasts looking for the perfect liquids for collecting and gifting.” The bottles are individually numbered, and packaged inside a box dressed in a three-dimensional paper art piece created exclusively for series by Scottish artist Kyla McCallum. Only 27 of the 108 bottles of The Remembering will be available in global travel retail from now. The fifth and final bottling of the collection will be released in 2027 to mark the brand’s 200th anniversary. The launch of The Remembering also marks Ballantine’s first NFT (non-fungible token) release in partnership with BlockBar.com. Last year, Ballantine’s entered into the world of gaming in partnership with video game series Borderlands.
