Blending good golf with fine whisky

A SCOTCH whisky with its spiritual home in Moray celebrated a remarkable double during the Barclays Scottish Open.

World number one Luke Donald’s tournament success earned him a bottle of Ballantine’s 30-year-old, a blended whisky which has Glenburgie Distillery near Forres as its iconic home.

And World number two Lee Westwood, who earlier in the year won the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea, paid a special visit to the distillery on the eve of the tournament at nearby Castle Stuart to create his own champion’s blend with the help of master distiller Sandy Hyslop.

Ballantine's brand director Peter Moore at Castle Stuart

The award-winning Ballantine’s brand, which is owned by Chivas Brothers, marked its fifth year as an official supplier to the Barclays Scottish Open at Castle Stuart.

Ballantine’s brand director Peter Moore said the move to the Moray Firth links course was ideal given the location of Glenburgie Distillery.

"The move up here was fantastic and the setting is fabulous. Glenburgie is the number one signature distillery for us with Ballantine’s," he said.

Lee Westwood was a special guest of Ballantine’s at Glenburgie Distillery, which earlier this year celebrated its 200th anniversary, on the Tuesday before the event started.

"Lee chose with Sandy the particular malts and grains he liked. He loved what he created and got really involved in the process and was excited by it," said Mr Moore.

Ballantine’s is the number one Scotch whisky in Europe and also the ultra-premium whisky in Asia Pacific.

The English golfer was, appropriately enough, world number one when he won the $2.2 million event.

Only 10 bottles of the whisky, which will be officially launched next year at the Ballantine’s Championship, will be produced.

Mr Moore said the synergie between golf and whisky, made the two a perfect fit and a good vehicle for the Ballantine’s brand to be developed.

"The link with golf makes fantastic sense. Scotland is famous for golf and whisky.

"There is an elegant style and class to Ballantine’s which is true also of golf, and golfers pride themselves on the way they play the game. Ballantine’s has that inner side to it and sense of substance."

Lee Westwood was a VIP visitor to Glenburgie Distillery

A number of Korean visitors were guests of Ballantine’s during the event and a trip to Glenburgie was also on the agenda. Chivas had earlier in the week hosted an international seminar on whisky, with key representatives from export countries, at the Mansefield Hotel in Elgin.

A minimum of 40 malts go into a Ballantine’s blend, and these include other Chivas-owned malts such as The Glenlivet and Aberlour. Miltonduff, near Elgin, is another key distillery in the creation of Ballantine’s.

However, the focus is largely on Glenburgie Distillery, which is not open to the public but has been developed as a place where trade customers and VIPs from all over the world are hosted.

Chivas has invested heavily in developing the visitor facilities at the distillery to enhance the experience for visitors and show them the four key elements that goes into making whisky: malted barley taken from nearby fields, natural spring water which flows from the hills above the distillery, the recently expanded still room where the distillation process takes place and the American bourbon casks used to mature the whisky.

Although Glenburgie is a key malt in the creation of Ballantine’s and visitors to the disillery can enjoy a tasting, it is not sold as a single malt in its own right.