In the making of The Balvenie IslayCask, David Stewart selected Balvenie single malt which had matured in traditional oak casks for at least 17 years and transferred it into 94 casks which had previously held Islay single malt. After six months he felt the casks had imparted the desired delicate amount of peaty notes, typical of Islay, whilst retaining the distinctively honeyed character of The Balvenie. The Balvenie IslayCask was bottled in 2001 and the late Michael Jackson, world renowned whisky expert and author of The Malt Whisky Companion, wrote the tasting notes above. This is a quite hard to come by bottle! Nose: Remarkably smoky aroma: lingering and soft, but also with some sweetness. Evokes thoughts of steam trains and garden bonfires. Some leafy, ferny, notes. Palate: Again, soft, with some of the same smoky sweetness. Like sugar being caramelised. A touch of candied orange peel. Lemon. Bread-and-butter pudding. All of these are more typical Balvenie flavoursFinish: The interplay of sweetness and smokiness finally melds into a fragrant, soothing, afterglow