The Balvenie Continues 50-Year-Old Trilogy Of Single Malt Scotches With Limited Edition Bottle

The exquisitely aged whiskey is part of a planned collection of three Balvenie Fifty bottles.

The Balvenie Fifty might be having its Empire Strikes Back moment in 2025. After releasing a rare 50-year-old single cask scotch in 2024, this year’s release adds complexity, depth, and a bit of flexing from Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie.

She started this trilogy with a single European oak refill butt laid down in 1973 — a testament to the whisky making talent of her forbearers. For the record release, McKechnie has taken a more hands on approach, marrying some of that original European oak liquid with whisky from an American oak hogshead filled the same year, making this a two-cask creation. 

”For The Second Edition,” explains McKechnie, “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 flavor thread running through the trilogy.”

The Balvenie Fifty is a planned collection of three releases. The first, launched in 2024, had an ABV of 52.3, while the second dips a bit lower to 49.8. According to tasting notes provided by the distillery, it seems to make up for the lower proof with darker flavors and aromas — violets, roses, currant and multiple layers of toffee, butter, and oak. 

What the third release will look like is anyone’s guess. McKechnie could continue her pattern and add a third cask to create the final liquid, or release the American hogshead as a standalone bottle. She could likewise do something completely new and different — or draw on whiskies of the past for inspiration. Balvenie is known for its more eccentric age stated releases and collections. The David Stewart Compendium collected incredible bottles from rare vintages, and the Balvenie Tun releases are among the distillery’s most coveted bottles. But this undertaking is substantially bigger and more ambitious.

Now for the bad news: only 97 bottles of this rare whisky were even filled, which a crushingly small portion of just 13 allocated for the US market. Suggested retail for batch two of Balvenie Fifty is $55,000, which isn’t a bad price by current standards for whiskies half a century old. Trilogies are always a challenge (just ask JJ Abrams), so it’s entirely possible that this could end up as the best bottle in the collection. But Balvenie has a long, rich history of incredible whiskies.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be expecting McKechnie to stick the landing, and hoping that you’re able to try a flight next year when all three are out in the world.

G. Clay Whittaker is a Maxim contributor covering lifestyle, whiskey, cannabis and travel. His work has also appeared in Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, Cigar Aficionado, Playboy and Esquire. Subscribe to his newsletter Drinks & Stuff for whisky reviews and trends, perspectives on drinks, and stuff.