Now Available: Balvenie 12 Years Old The 1931 Collection by Daniel Arsham

Now Available: Balvenie 12 Years Old The 1931 Collection by Daniel Arsham

The Balvenie 12 Years Old The 1931 Collection Limited Edition by Daniel Arsham is now available on Spiritory. It is the most accessible bottle in a three part collection that The Balvenie created with the New York artist Daniel Arsham, and it puts one of the distillery's rarest skills front and center: barley malted by hand on its own malting floor.

The collection takes its name from 1931. That is the year of the cask behind the oldest whisky in the range, and it is also close to the moment the distillery's floor maltings began their work. Every bottle in the series points back to that year in its own way.

A Collection Built on Three Bottles

The 1931 Collection is made up of three releases, and each one sits at a different level of rarity.

The Balvenie 12 Years Old is the entry point, built on 100% home malted barley. The Balvenie 15 Years Old goes a step further and uses barley that is both home grown and home malted, and it was created for global travel retail. Crowning the series is the Balvenie 88 Years Old, the oldest single malt Scotch whisky ever released.

The 88 Years Old was distilled in 1931 and bottled in 2019 from a single European oak sherry butt from Jerez, Cask Nr.239. Only 17 bottles exist. Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie describes a nose of honey, subtle mint leaf and buttery fudge, with rich aromatic oak, creamy toffee and velvety honey on the palate.

Design by Daniel Arsham

Daniel Arsham is known for sculptures that treat familiar objects as if time had already worked on them, with surfaces that look eroded, weathered or slowly crystallised. That idea runs through the whole collection.

For the 88 Years Old he created a sculptural vessel from eight layers of hand patinated bronze, holding a copper disc cut from a decommissioned still at the distillery. The same language carries down to the 12 Years Old, whose presentation tin shifts from warm copper at the top into a green bronze patina at the base, a nod to the copper stills and to the slow work of time on metal.

Maturation and Flavor Profile

The barley for the 12 Years Old is malted entirely on The Balvenie's own malting floor, something very few Scottish distilleries still do. The spirit then matures in American oak and finishes in ex sherry European oak casks from Jerez, the same region that produced the cask behind the 88 Years Old.

It is bottled at 47.5% ABV in a 700 ml bottle, in the honeyed and gently spiced style the distillery is known for.

Release and Availability

The collection was introduced during Frieze Seoul in September 2026, in an immersive performance directed by Arsham. The 12 Years Old is released in selected markets, while the 15 Years Old was made for global travel retail.

The Balvenie 12 Years Old The 1931 Collection is available now on Spiritory, and the 15 Years Old and 88 Years Old can be found there as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Balvenie 1931 Collection?

The 1931 Collection is a limited edition series created by The Balvenie with artist Daniel Arsham. It takes its name from 1931, the year of the cask behind the oldest bottling in the range, and it brings together a 12 Years Old, a 15 Years Old and an 88 Years Old.

What makes the Balvenie 12 Years Old special?

It is made from 100% home malted barley, malted on the distillery's own floor maltings, matured in American oak and finished in ex sherry European oak casks from Jerez. It is bottled at 47.5% ABV in a 700 ml bottle.

How old is the oldest whisky in the collection?

The Balvenie 88 Years Old was distilled in 1931 and bottled in 2019 from a single European oak sherry butt from Jerez, Cask Nr.239. Only 17 bottles exist, and it is the oldest single malt Scotch whisky ever released.

Who is Daniel Arsham?

Daniel Arsham is a New York based contemporary artist known for sculptures that treat everyday objects as if they had eroded over time. For The Balvenie he shaped the look of the collection and created a sculpture from eight layers of hand patinated bronze holding a copper disc taken from a decommissioned distillery still.