Speyside distillery The Balvenie has unveiled The Second Edition of its Fifty Collection, one of the rarest whisky releases in the distillery’s history, with only 97 bottles available worldwide.

The limited release, bottled at 49.8% ABV, represents the marriage of two single casks, both filled in 1973. Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie combined the inaugural release—a European oak refill butt—with a second cask, an American oak hogshead, creating a distinct flavour profile for this edition.

The whisky showcases tasting notes of molten dates, sweet soft currants and subtle citrus zest, layered over creamy honey with a buttery finish, according to the distillery.

The Fifty Collection forms a three-part series celebrating five decades of craftsmanship at The Balvenie. Each edition in the trilogy showcases different maturation journeys, reflecting the work of the distillery’s craftspeople over 50 years.

The original casks were filled in 1973 under the stewardship of former Malt Master David C. Stewart, beginning decades of careful aging. Many of the craftspeople who worked on these casks in 1973 remain with The Balvenie today, having contributed to innovations in whisky-making over the past half-century, including the development of cask finishing techniques.

“The Balvenie Fifty Collection pays tribute to the makers, craftspeople and custodians who have watched over our liquid for the past five decades. It’s a privilege to select the casks which make up this celebration of our legacy and I am thrilled that we can finally share this special dram. Marrying together rare casks to create something extraordinary is a fitting testament to the stories that precede each cask. For The Second Edition, we selected an American oak hogshead filled in 1973 to build on the legacy of the inaugural release. The time spent maturing in American oak has nurtured a beautifully balanced character, with notes of sweet honey and warming oak. This profile was chosen to complement the European oak influence of The First Edition, creating a marriage of casks that brings both contrast and continuity to the flavour thread running through the trilogy. The collection reflects our respect for tradition and our commitment to looking to the future by preserving the rare crafts of whisky making from barley to bottle.” 

Kelsey McKechnie, The Balvenie Malt Master

McKechnie continues this legacy through her approach to marrying and remarrying casks, creating signature flavour profiles across The Balvenie Collection that are both complex and unique to each edition.

The packaging for The Fifty Collection was developed by Croglin, a specialised craft workshop based in Cumbria, United Kingdom. Each presentation contains over 100 different elements, including a helix structure featuring seven layers of wood less than one-tenth of a millimetre thick and a 14-carat gold-plated brass display.

The Second Edition features a darker wood stain compared to the inaugural release, and each hand-blown bottle is individually numbered.

The release is scheduled for early 2026. In Malaysia, only one bottle will be available, exclusively at The Chamber, Starhill Kuala Lumpur. Private purchase inquiries can be directed to jeremy@wonderfulbev.com

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Visual credits: The Balvenie