Balmenach 1972 - 30 Year Old - Hart Brothers - Finest Collection

Balmenach distillery was founded in Speyside in 1824. The distillery joined Diageo forerunner DCL’s portfolio in 1925 and was expanded to six stills in 1962. Balmenach was acquired in 1997 by Inver House Distillers, who are now owned by Thai Beverages plc. Balmenach is one of only a few distilleries still using worm tubs to condense their spirit and the resulting muscular, meaty whisky is in high demand from blenders.

Balmenach’s importance as a blending malt means official bottlings are thin on the ground. United Distillers bottled Balmenach 12-year-old for the Flora & Fauna series; Inver House released a handful of limited editions, the last of which was in 2002. Independent Balmenach is relatively common, with some classic old bottlings by Gordon & MacPhail, the SMWS, Signatory, Cadenhead’s and the Italian bottler Sestante among others.

One of the unsung heroes of the independent whisky bottling scene, Hart Brothers started life in the 1960s as independent blenders and whisky brokers, and began bottling single malts themselves in the late 1980s. Hart Brothers have often flown under the radar, but a glance at their bottling history reveals some truly outstanding single malt whiskies from distilleries including Bowmore, Macallan, Longmorn, Springbank and Glen Grant. 

Hart Brothers have a quiet tradition of getting their hands on unusual or difficult to source whiskies and releasing them with little fanfare which continues to this day, with recent releases including 1980s vintages of Littlemill and Macallan and a sherry cask of Talisker 1993. At auction, they are a bottler always worth looking out for, particularly for the magnificent 1950s and 1960s Bowmores and their superb 1960s Glenfiddichs.