Elite Event: The Balvenie Master Class

Having been to the Macallan tasting on two occasions I’ve seen what a really big presentation on Scotch can look like. I’ve never had Balvenie before so I was excited to see what Lorne had for us to taste. The back area of Smokestack made the perfect backdrop for a tasting and I really appreciated the intimate group setting. The only thing I would’ve liked changed is for Lorne to be mic’d up so I could hear him when his back was towards us.
Aside from that we got to sample 4 different scotches. I think my favorite was the Doublewood 17 followed by the Portwood 21. The Carribean 14 seemed too sweet for my taste buds.
It was great hearing about the history and lore of the Balvenie distillery and Lorne had some interesting stories. I kind of wished I could stay for the second group but we were all promptly kicked out for the next summer school class to come in.
Overall, great venue, snacks, stories and of course… GREAT SCOT-​CH

As a lifelong Warehouse24 member, I’m an afficianado of all things Balvenie.
I can’t say much about the Unilocal community manager, but what a great Whisky and what a terrific event! I was there in spirit (pun totally intended).
Have you tried the Portscask 21? Do. Or do not.

Thank you Abby for having us and Lorne for the wonderful virtual tour to scotland! Best birthday present!
I’m moving to SF in a couple of months and wanted this time to meet new SF elites, but the time was short and I only got to say hi to a few people. Looking forward to more chances in the future! (Side note, I am looking for an apartment in SF, if you know anyone who’s sharing/​subleasing, feel free to message me! How cool would it be to live with avid Unilocalers!)
Onto the event now. We loved the technical aspects to the presentation on the making and history of Balvenie. Being able to mingle with other whisky lovers was fantastic. My personal favorite was the 14 yr old caribbean! Lorne was tremendously knowledgeable and passionate, we learned so much in such a short time.
Definitely worthy of mention are the BBQ sides, when I bit into the smoked bacon, I could actually envision fire, smoke, and wood chips. Yum!

This was wooondderful! The venue was beautiful. The brand ambassador (Lorne) is a great storyteller. And, of course, Balvenie — the star of it all.
There were 4 kinds for tasting in pretty Balvenie-​branded scotch glasses:
— Doublewood, 12 yr
— Caribbean, 14 yr
— Doublewood, 17 yr
— Portwood, 21 yr
Lorne did an amazing job explaining the different regions in Scotland that gives a scotch its distinct flavors. He’s knowledgable about Balvenie, the history of scotch and distilleries, and explained how wooden barrels incorporate its flavor into alcohol.
There were two things that bothered me, however:
(1) Because of the layout of the backroom, each guest and tasting set basically formed an oval around Lorne. He was standing a bit off-​center and had his back to about 10 people at any given moment (99% of the time, it was the same 10 people — myself included). This made it difficult to hear his wonderful stories!
(2) At the end of the event, I watched a staff member pour every single glass of leftover scotch into a big ol’ bucket. It made me very sad!
But, overall, a wonderful event. I love these events that really focus on a specific product/​item. Thanks again Unilocal staff for putting this on.

Double Wood.
Does that excite you? ;-)
I got a nice mouthful of it at the recent YEE held at Smokestack. Balvenie knows how to tickle my fancy: 4 tastings of their premium brown sugar aged 12 — 21 years, Lorne Cousin (brand ambassador) made it a fun and educational event. I’m excited to add to my knowledge database that Double Wood simply means aged in ex-​bourbon casks before being finished in sherry casks. It’s an excellent example of how Balvenie can craft such fantastic bottles. Pricey, but worth it.
We were treated to light bites of meat sticks and pickled stuff from Smokestack, Simply 7 lentil chips and tasty tarts from Whole Foods. Thanks to Unilocal and Abby for putting together another awesome event!

This was my first Unilocal Elite event (Thanks Abby!) and it was awesome! I liked the venue where it was hosted. Like others have mentioned, the industrial feel and barrels of whisk (e)y were fitting for the event. The person leading us for the tasting was knowledgeable and he told entertaining stories. As a whisky drinker, I enjoyed learning about the history of single malts. I’ve had the Balvenie 12 year before and wasn’t too fond of the salty finish, but the suggestion of adding some water really made a difference in taste. My favorite whisky of the night was the PortWood aged 21 years — SO SMOOTH. Unilocal flask was a perfect giveaway item. The pastries were tasty in the end. Overall, it feels great to be part of the Elite crew!

Thank you Unilocal for another awesome event! I had no idea whiskey could have so many subtle hints of flavor. Never in my life have I swished hard alcohol around in my mouth to enjoy the flavor, and I’m so glad I got to experience it here.
The small snacks and lentil chips were the perfect little treat to break up the alcohol-​swishes. I also really enjoyed how informational this was, and the anecdotes made the event very memorable.
The dogpatch often gets over looked, and I’m so glad I had an excuse to come down here and check out some of the other awesome establishments.
Who would have known you could have so much fun in summer school. Thanks Abby and thanks Unilocal

A neat event space, unfinished and industrial with barrels and pallets but still very chic, the Smokestack event room was a great place to host the tasting. The tiny desserts were a great touch, along with the scotch «punch» served in classy little glasses.
I couldn’t for the life of me hear 95% of what the gentleman was saying as he faced one way the entire time, plus the machinery behind us and the happy hour crowd in full swing drowned him out. Tragic because I adore scotch and really wanted to hear about the history of the distillery and the background behind each sampling. To no one’s fault but venue acoustics, the intimate event was very well organized, executed, and the tasting set-​up was really well done (crystal tasting glasses arranged on trays and set on barrels), and the opportunity to get to sample 12÷14÷17÷21 year old Balvenie was a rare, if not once-​in-​a-​lifetime opportunity.
A phenomenally unique Unilocal Elite event, the small touches like artsy pastries and finger foods, and cool Unilocaly swag 5oz stainless steel flask were unexpected surprises. An amazing evening. Phenomenal job, Miss Abby!

Thank you for hosting an entertaining and informative event!
It gave me a great excuse to come check out Smokestack, learn a ton about whisky, and sample some tasty snacks. I realize I had no idea how to appreciate finer whiskys, and I know this will encourage me to do so.
Couple things that could have been improved on: It was very hard to hear at times, what with the accent/​spacious interior. It might have been easier if the table were set like rows instead, but it’s hard to tell. His placement in the middle of the room made him have his back to other attendees as well. I never heard them mention if the Balvenie whiskys were available at Smokestack, but I’m assuming that’s one of the reasons they hosted, so maybe a bigger shout out to Smokestack during the next event. Not trying to complain, because this was really a great little event.
Thanks Unilocal

This was my first elite event and boy was I pleased (: Although I didn’t get to mingle with other elitist, I had a surprisingly great time at the event itself. Lorne made the event such a success for me. I’m not a whisky (I was told by a whisky enthusiast that scotch whisky is spelt without the «e» and I could get hung for not knowing that haha) fan but I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of Balvenie. I mean, the granddaughter lived to be 110 years old?! The Scottish people are doing something magical to their whisky d:
Any who, it was a very short and sweet event. We were able to grab a bite at smokestack. My fiancé has found a new favorite whisky to buy (: I also found a whisky I can actually drink!!! Anyone else love the 14 year one?
I can’t wait for the next event I go to!!! Thanks Abby for putting this together!

My first Unilocal event as a San Francisco resident, and it’s SCOTCH! What a way to win over my lush heart on a Whiskey Wednesday.
The event was held in the back of Smokehouse, which me and my roommate got to try out some of their heavenly melt-​in-​your-​mouth BBQ brisket before the tasting.
I’ve been to several other scotch tastings before, but never Balvenie, so it was quite informative to learn about the brand. I wish the the venue wasn’t so overshadowed by the voices from the restaurant. It was hard to hear the ambassador speak and I missed much of the fun trivia about this particular scotch. This was of course mediated by the generous pours of 12, 14, 17, and 21 year old, as well as the self-​serve scotch punch and random treats of tarts and bacon.
Scored a Unilocal branded flask to add to my collection. Also took home a personal-​sized cheesecake from Whole Foods, which was perfect to eat today since it’s National Cheesecake Day!
My community manager from LA, Katie B., said that SF would take care of me. She was definitely right. Thanks again Abby S. for a fun libatious evening!

This was a cool event and had some unique attributes to it.
This wasn’t a very social event. The very enthusiastic speaker spoke almost the whole hour non-​stop (except to sniff or sip the whiskey). You can tell he is extremely passionate about what he does!
The whiskey was quite good! We got to sample the 12yr, 14yr, 17yr, and 21yr.
The speaker really broke down the whole process to not just making whiskey, but how to taste it too.
The one small downside was that the spots near the punch were a bit far from the speaker so I couldn’t catch everything he said. I missed the scottish phrases he used at the beginning! :(
Overall definitely a cool event to try some great whiskies. :)

Really cool, intimate event. It was loud due to the crowded restaurant. You could smell the smokey BBQ wafting into the tasting room. Lorne was great at taking us through the tasting. My favorite, by far, was the Caribbean Cask (14 year). Very interesting at how the whiskey is aged. I think my knowledge of how to experience whiskey grew quite a bit, so my appreciation can have some credibility! I’m so glad I was also able to come away with the ever-​elusive Unilocal flask! I know at least a few people put it to quick use with the spiced mix we were greeted with. That was also dangerously delicious!
Thanks, Abby, for the great event!

A fun and intimate event where we learned about Balvenie and Scotch! The evening started off with a whiskey-​based punch from Smokestack, and the tasting took us through four different Scotches.
The 14 year was probably my favorite, but you really can’t beat the chance to try Scotches that have won the Best Spirit Award — 21 year, I’m looking at you.
Thanks Abby S and Unilocal for setting this up and hooking us up! We had a fantastic time and look forward to the next event. Cheers!

Great event, fun tasting, tasty snacks (jerky, some tarts, chips).
I’m a little upset they ran out of these promised flasks and my friend and I didn’t get one!

Really enjoyed this event!
It was so interesting to learn about all the different ways, from nosing to evaporating to tasting, to experience the flavors in scotch.
My favorite was the 14-​year The Balvenie finished in rum casks although I wouldn’t turn down a bottle of the 21-​year :-)
Thanks Abby for an awesome time, can’t wait for the next one!

An awesome, experiential night filled with small bites, booze, and great company! It was great being able to learn about Scotch and going through the whole Balvenie tasting process. That monkey punch was delicious and kudos to the small bites from Smokestack. Having the saltiness of the bacon and sausage, with the pickled veggies, made for a nice pairing for the whole experience. And the mini cheesecake at the end, was the cherry on top!
Thanks Abby S. and the Unilocal SF crew for having us (and hookin’ it up with the Unilocal swag)! Definitely a memorable time for my first Unilocal SF event. Might have to make #WhiskeyWednesdays a regular thing now ;-)

Oh you know, just drinking that 21-​year aged scotch with some chocolate tart and lentil chips while listening to a Scotland native explain the making of Balvenie.
What an educational event this was!