The Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch #1
The Balvenie has discontinued its successful Tun 1401, which has been replaced by a series of annual releases under the name Tun 1509. The successor of the Tun 1401 was first announced in August and has now hit shops everywhere. The most noticeable difference is the size of the marriage tun. Tun 1509 is four times larger than its predecessor.
The other important difference is in the makeup of the liquid. The first batch to come out of this new marriage tun is comprised of 35 American oak barrels and 7 European sherry butts. In comparison there used to be a bigger sherry influence in the Tun 1401.
Is there anything else? Oh yeah, the price of 300/350 euro. That is a lot more than you used to pay for the Tun 1401.
The Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch #1 (47,1%, OB, 11000 bts.)
Nose: Sweet and warming, with also a light glue smell, in the distance some eucalyptus and also a noticeable oakiness. The sweetness expresses itself mainly through honey and sugar, but there is also some strawberry and cherry detectable. Some spices are here as well in the form of cinnamon and nutmeg. Citrus gives it some freshness to balance out the nose.
Taste: Lots of vanilla and oak, a slight bitterness even. Orange peel and tree bark. The honey from the nose returns, but more subtle now. Still some spiciness with again nutmeg, but also a minty quality.
Finish: Spicy at first, then fresher (apple) and then sweetness with a hint of smoke.
Rating: 91
When I sit down to taste and write notes it is always a good sign when I’ve scribbled half a page of my notebook in merely a couple of minutes. There is a lot to discover in this vatting. A nice complex whisky that is also very well balanced.
Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.
Thijs, “that is a lot more than you used to pay for the Tun 1401” ! ?
I don’t buy that.
Tun 1401 b.1 (336b) was sold for £150 exclusively to visitors of the Balvenie distillery from 2010. Until the Spring of 2012, anyone else wanting a bottle could expect to pay +/-£400 at auction. Although several bottles sold over this early period in Huntly (visit Fergus!) for £500, between Summer of 2012 and Spring 2013 it went from £800 to £2000, where it sits (or thereabouts) today.
Worth noting that further batches (all scaled up 6 times to +/-2000b each) began appearing from Spring 2011 (UK/Europe, Russia, Asia), over this same inflation period. Although they also saw some bonkers hammer prices, each bottling, originally £150rrp (later batches £165rrp), now vary from £400-1000.
So depending who “you” is, £250 is NOT “a lot more than you used to pay.” In fact, it’s less than you’ll ever pay.
To disclose, my name is Sam. I work with Balvenie. And I hope unlike the 1509’s palate (about which, incidentally, I agree with you), you detect no bitterness here.
Hi Sam, thanks for your comment. I’m happy you agree with the tasting note. And as far as the prices go, I hope you understand I’m talking about retail prices, not current auction prices.
Not that it matters but the 1401 was 200€ when it game out. So 1509 is too expensive.
Agree on the 91 points for 1509