The Balvenie Debuts Eight-Eight-Year-Old, The World’s Oldest Single Malt Whisky
The Eighty-Eight-Year-Old was unveiled at Seoul, accompanied by an artwork created by renowned artist Daniel Arsham.
Whisky isn’t made in a day; in this case, it took almost nine decades. Seoul recently played host to a once-in-a-lifetime event: the launch of The Balvenie’s oldest whisky ever, the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky. While the whisky is exemplary on its own, each bottle is also accompanied by a sculptural work of art created by renowned artist Daniel Arsham. Access to the whisky is reserved for a select few: just 17 bottles are available exclusively to private clients and collectors.
History In The Making
The Balvenie’s handwritten archives show that on 5 March 1931, a whisky was filled into a European oak sherry butt sourced from Jerez, Spain, labelled cask #239. Kelsey McKechnie, malt master, The Balvenie, shares, “It had been earmarked many years before; one morning in 2019, I sampled a whisky that had reached perfection. Exceptional in both substance and significance, I quietly instructed that it be bottled and locked away for safekeeping. Typically, in mature whiskies, we say that a third of the flavour comes from the distillery itself, and two-thirds come from the oak. In a cask that’s 88 years old, you want the perfect balance between the spirit and the oak to make sure the latter doesn’t overpower the spirit in the final flavour profile.”
While noting an ever-present Balvenie character, on the nose, McKechnie identifies, “A breath of Balvenie. Honey, subtle mint leaf, and buttery fudge flow into a whisper of light earthiness, intertwined with floral heather tones, damp bracken, and worn leather. Aromas carrying the quiet elegance of years of maturation.” Speaking of the taste, she said, “Rich aromatic oak flows into creamy toffee, velvety honey, and a warming spice, slowly revealing deep heather and woodland ferns. A quiet reward of years of persistence and patience.” The finish is long and drying.
However, it would take seven more years until the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old would make its way to the world stage. McKechnie recalls, “We knew that we had the oldest Balvenie whisky in our history, tucked away in our blending room. But we needed to wait for an opportunity to work with someone who could showcase it and give it the visuals that a timeless piece like this deserves. That’s why we waited for the right opportunity. We had long admired Daniel and his exceptional work, so when the opportunity arose, we couldn’t have asked for a more fitting partner.”
Craftsmanship Across Disciplines
One of the most prominent contemporary artists working today, Arsham’s practice crosses fine art, architecture, performance, design, and film. Based in New York City, his work is included in the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Pérez Art Museum, Miami. He has utilised the ‘fictional archaeology’ method to frame modern objects through the lens of deep geological time, working with notable brands such as Tiffany & Co., Rimowa, Dior, and Porsche.
The concept proved particularly fitting for a whisky created in the past and presented in the 21st century. The piece comprises eight flowing layers representing each decade, with the fascia made from hand-patinated bronze that mirrors the textures and colours found across the distillery and the oxidation that happens naturally on copper over time.
On the reverse are eighty-eight layers of oak, a nod to the cask. Embedded within the sculpture is a copper disc crafted from a decommissioned distillery still, a literal and physical piece of The Balvenie’s history. At its centre is the whisky, housed in a hand-blown crystal decanter and further engraved with 18k gold gilding and polished to perfection.
The neck of the bottle replicates ‘The Balvenie Ball’ shape of the distillery’s copper pot stills, with a bulge at the base of the swan’s neck that gives the single malt its signature honeyed flavour. All 17 bottles of the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old are accompanied by a piece of Arsham’s artwork.
He says, “My role was really to tell the story behind the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old. A lot of that had to do with visiting The Balvenie Distillery, where it was made, pulling out materials, and even incorporating sensory elements such as the smell of the place. I included copper from the stills in the work, infused oak from the barrels, and brought barley from the floor into the performance you saw last night. It was about creating an environment around the experience of the whisky.”
He continued, “I’m not quite sure what I expected, but I thought it would feel more technical. Instead, it felt very hands-on and craft-driven. Seeing the malting floor, watching the barley being turned, and understanding how the team works around the clock made that craftsmanship very tangible. It’s very similar to how I work in my studio, where things are made by hand.”
The Soul Of Whisky
The Speyside distillery looked beyond the traditional luxury capitals such as Paris and Milan to one of Asia’s most dynamic cities and cultural powerhouses as its first reveal site. The choice was a considered one: during the pandemic, as home drinking became the norm, The Balvenie became a coveted name among South Korea’s burgeoning whisky community, with limited releases prompting pre-dawn queues and selling out within minutes. The Balvenie is now the leading single malt in South Korea, with the country being one of the most important markets for the brand.
Robb Report Malaysia attended the launch in S50, Seongsu-dong, Seoul’s trendiest industrial-chic neighbourhood, where a pop-up store had been constructed for only five days. The love that Seoulites had for whisky was evident: people braved long queues in the rain to enter. Also gracing the event were South Korean stars Seol In Ah, Noh Sang Hyun, and Jeong Hyuk.
The launch also marked the debut of two other limited-edition expressions from The 1931 Collection, which many more consumers of The Balvenie can experience and enjoy. The first is a Fifteen-Year-Old, crafted entirely from Home Malted and Home Grown Barley, with velvety, rich, honeyed notes that flow into a sweet and lingering finish. Another exceptional expression is the Twelve-Year-Old, made using 100 per cent Home Malted Barley. It is beautifully balanced and refined, with layers of honey and delicate spice revealing a rich, velvety, and smooth finish.
The Balvenie partnered with leading international art fair, Frieze Seoul, to debut The 1931 Collection through an immersive, sensorial performance directed by Arsham. The Home Malting Floor, a mark of The Balvenie’s heritage as one of only a handful still active in Scotland, was recreated through a stage covered with barley grain.
Dancers moved through a series of eight fluid, meditative acts, paying homage to the age-old craft where dedicated malt men turn the barley by hand daily to regulate its temperature and ensure an even malt. Single’s Inferno’s Kim Jae-jin, who is also a professional contemporary dancer and choreographer, made a surprise appearance as part of the dance ensemble. On occasion, Arsham himself joined the performers, drawing on his own practice of moving meditation. The hypnotic, deliberate movements of the performers, who created intricate patterns with the barley, were accompanied by a bespoke soundscape composed from ambient sounds captured within the distillery.
Arsham adds, “There’s a room at The Balvenie where we were fortunate enough to taste the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old. It has this very earthy, damp, dark quality, with barrels from different eras, so I wanted to recreate some of that atmosphere here. The performative element came from the malting floor, watching the barley being turned, and trying to capture that feeling in the space—bringing a little piece of The Balvenie in Scotland to Seoul.”
The Balvenie is proudly known as the most handcrafted of single malts, and remains the only distillery in Scotland to maintain all five of its Rare Crafts in-house. Together, the art piece and performance paid homage to these enduring traditions: home-grown barley, traditional floor maltings, coopering, the art of the coppersmiths, and the intuitive expertise of the malt master.
Now in its fifth generation of family ownership, The Balvenie continues to evolve while remaining rooted in its heritage. The Eighty-Eight-Year-Old embodies this balance, carrying nearly nine decades of craftsmanship into the present while marking a new chapter for the distillery.
The Distillers Library at The Shilla Seoul
The Distillers Library by William Grant & Sons at The Shilla Seoul is the largest of its kind in Asia, and a haven for whisky lovers. Its doors are open only to invited guests, who can sample and purchase rare and limited edition whiskies, including Ladyburn, Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, available nowhere else in South Korea. Among its most coveted treasures are rare pieces from the William Grant & Sons archives, including the Ladyburn – Ha Chong-Hyun Edition series. This pairs vintage 1973 single casks with artwork by celebrated South Korean monochromatic master Ha Chong-Hyun. Visitors can also experience whisky pairing courses and programmes led by brand ambassadors in the Secret Dining Room.
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