*THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED – MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED*
Last year I headed up to visit one of Scotland’s newest distilleries – Glenburgie. While it was originally built in 1810, it had been fully modernised in 2004 by owners Pernod Ricard to help increase capacity as the vast majority of the spirit is used to shape Ballantine’s whisky.
As much of my focus on the site last year was about blends, I was keen to learn more from Sandy Hyslop – master blender – about how he works with Glenburgie (one of the key fingerprint malts in Ballantine’s) and weaves his magic with other whiskies to create the final product.
You can read more about that in this piece here (including Sandy’s tips to nosing and tasting whisky) but the key thing was that blending takes not only skill but an idea of how to create balance.
It is this which ties into this post and competition. You see, in late 2013 Swedish design trio FRONT went to visit Sandy and discovered the same thing. They were at Glenburgie to get inspiration for their latest creation – a Ballantine’s Ballance serving ritual.
According to Sofia Lagerkvist of FRONT: “We spent time with Sandy in Scotland and we learned that his craft is a highly skilled balancing act: first in channeling the influences of nature in ageing this particular Scotch whisky for a minimum of 12 years. Then, in blending Ballantine’s 12, the flavours of an extensive collection of single malts and grains have to be precisely balanced to achieve a consistently smooth finish every time.”
Ballantine’s Ballance combines five elements involved in the whisky journey: an oak coaster as a nod to the casks, a whisky glass, a copper ice bowl to honour the stills, a square shaped water jug, and a copper spoon.
There were only 150 of these made and I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on one to give away to one of you lucky readers.
All you have to do to be in with a chance, is watch these videos from Ballantine’s (#1, #2, #3, #4 & #5), each of which describes an aspect of the sculpture.
Then, send in your answer to this statement, along with your name and the address of where you want the sculpture to be sent if you win to info@misswhisky.com by the 27 April:
Entrants must be over the age of 18 and the competition is open to EU residents. I will also announce the name of the winner on Twitter. If you would like to be additionally informed that way if you win, please include your Twitter address in your entry.
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS
By entering this competition, you agree to the Terms and Conditions which can be found below.
“By entering this competition, you agree to the following terms and conditions of entry: You are of legal drinking age and entering from and resident of one of the eligible countries listed below. The competition closes at 11.59pm on 27 April 2014. To enter the competition, you must complete the statement provided with the correct answer, which is detailed in one of the five videos provided. You must send your answer to info@misswhisky.com, along with your name and the address of where you would like the prize to be sent should you win. If you give permission for your entry to be referenced on Twitter, please provide your Twitter handle with your entry. One entry per person, no bulk or third party entries. The prize is a Ballantine’s Ballance serve. There is one prize to be won, and no cash or prize alternatives. No purchase necessary. The winning entry will be drawn at random from all valid entries received before the deadline. The winner will be notified by email and no responsibility is taken for incorrectly supplied email addresses. The winner must provide sufficient legal proof of age to Miss Whisky (passport, drivers licence or as otherwise notified by them) as a condition of accepting the prize; and you will personally need to accept delivery of the prize from Miss Whisky or Chivas Brothers Limited. We reserve the right to check proof of age on delivery as well. You give consent for Miss Whisky and Ballantine’s to use your name and photograph on Miss Whisky and Ballantine’s website/social media, in association with this competition. Miss Whisky reserves the right to amend, vary or withdraw the Competition at any time owing to circumstances beyond its reasonable control. This competition will be governed by laws of England & Wales.
Countries eligible to enter the competition: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom.
