The Balvenie has, since its founding in 1892, been built around an unpeated, honeyed Speyside style — but for one week of the year the distillery's stills are given over to producing peated spirit, and The Week of Peat 14 is the public face of that small annual experiment. It forms part of the Stories range introduced under David Stewart, and it offers a glimpse of what Balvenie sounds like in a different key.
Bottled at 48.3% ABV, the whisky pours a pale gold. The nose is the first surprise: rather than the assertive medicinal smoke of an Islay malt, this is softer, sweeter, and quite obviously a peated Balvenie. Woodsmoke drifts above honey, vanilla, baked pear, and a gentle coastal saltiness, but the orchard-fruit signature of the distillery is unmistakably still there.
The palate confirms the impression. Honeyed barley and vanilla lead, followed by a wave of sweet peat smoke that feels integrated rather than imposed. Orchard fruit, a curl of bonfire ash, and a faint trace of brine round out the picture, with the higher bottling strength giving the whole thing a satisfying weight.
The finish is long and warming, with smoke, honey, and lingering oak combining gracefully. The Week of Peat is a quiet reminder that peated whisky was once made all over Scotland, and that distilleries like Balvenie kept the option open even as they built their reputations on cleaner styles. As a one-off curiosity it would be charming; as a regular Stories release it has become genuinely well loved.
