Balvenie 14-Year-Old Caribbean Cask With Fake MBD (MK) Certification

Balvenie 14-Year-Old Caribbean Cask With Fake Manchester Beth Din (MK) Certification printed on the Hebrew label

Before we begin, I owe you all an apology for not publishing Whisky reviews lately. I have been busy with various Whisky Kashrus projects and have somewhat neglected this blog recently. I still have reviews of the Aultmore 12, Deanston 18 (New Edition), Arran Quarter Cask, a Kilchoman 9 Year-Old as well as a wines from LaForet Blanche and Alon HaBoded wineries to upload.

OK, now on with the story of the Balvenie 14-Year-Old Caribbean Cask With Fake Manchester Beth Din (or Manchester Kashrus, MK for short) Certification printed on the Hebrew label.

Around 7-8 years ago, the Israeli importers, HaKerem, requested a hechsher from the Manchester Beth Din MK in the UK, who are the Kashrus supervisors for William Grant, the parent company who owns Balvenie.

In 2014, this was granted and the original First Edition which came in the light beige "Mushroom" coloured cardboard cylinders have a legitimate teudat hechsher.

Note the date of 2014 and the expiry date of May 2015

However, whether it was because HaKerem importers decided (for whatever reason), not to continue paying for Certification, or whether it was that the MK found a kashrus issue with the Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask, but for whatever reason, it was confirmed in an email from the MK, that certification for this product was revoked by the MK for the Second (2015-) and subsequent editions (which come in a brown cardboard cylinder).

Despite this fact, HaKerem continued to print the MK certification statement and reproduce the Kashrus MK symbol on their cheaply printed Hebrew labels which they stuck on top of the original English ones. (I know I have said it before, but it really annoys me that they cover up the original English label depriving us of the possibility of reading it, as they seem to be using some Superglue to stick the Hebrew label on and any attempt at removing it, results in tearing the label underneath).

I have actually suspected that this was a fake certification for years as I noticed that the MK removed the Balvenie 14 Caribbean cask from their certified list of William Grant products (published on their official site) seven years ago, yet the Hebrew label continued to state that this product had a hechsher.

I wrote to the MK to inquire if the Balvenie 14 we get here, was a special Kosher batch especially for the Israeli market, or whether the hechsher had been printed in error.

It took a series of emails back and forth to the MK, stretching over a period of weeks, to finally resolve the issue.

The suggestion was initially made that the importers might still be selling old stock. I replied that I was sure this wasn’t the case as the bottles being sold had the new branding and shiny colours on them. Nevertheless, the MK wanted to be absolutely sure and requested that I send them photos of Production Stamps printed at the bottom of the bottles.

(Do you know how difficult it is to photograph these as the dot-matrix style print the machines print with is really faint, and you have to get the camera in just the right angle for something to show up).

So, I went to my local wine store and they kindly allowed me to take photos of two new bottles which had come in after Pesach.

In all fairness to HaKerem I think it might be the case that they innocently continued printing the same old Hebrew label and didn’t update it for subsequent imports. Perhaps the fact that it no longer had a hechsher, did not filter down to those responsible for the labels.

It will be interesting to see how fast the MK and HaKerem react and whether they simply fix the label for all new bottlings or whether they actually take the trouble to ask the stores to black out the relevant lines on the labels.

The Difference between the First and later Editions

Balvenie ambassadors have been quoted in various interviews (which you can find on the Internet) as saying that the spirit for this expression was initially matured in Refill casks (without mentioning what percentage of those casks were Ex-Bourbon or Ex-Sherry), but that all the whisky was then finished for a number of months in refurbished casks which they themselves have seasoned with Rum at the distillery in Scotland.

This is in stark contrast to the original First [Limited] Edition where they, as I understand it, used genuine Ex-Rum Casks from the Caribbean as an additional Cask Finish. It is standard practice in Caribbean Rum distilleries to use Ex-Bourbon barrels from distilleries in the United States to mature their rum, so the casks used for the First Edition were almost certainly Ex-Rum-Ex-Bourbon barrels, which would seem to pose no Kashrus issues.

(This, by the way, is the major reason why Rum is not kosher for Pesach. The Bourbon barrels they use to mature their Rum are Chametz!)

Note that this next point has nothing to do with Kashrus but, in my opinion, I think it's slightly deceptive of Balvenie to state (in large font), both on the Whisky box and label: “CARIBBEAN CASK – Extra matured in Rum Casks” and underneath, “Finished in Casks that Previously held Rum distilled in the Caribbean”.

I think any reasonable person would understand this to mean that the Balvenie 14 continues to be finished in genuine old Caribbean Rum casks, and not as it turns out, refurbished distillery casks which have been seasoned with Rum in their cooperages in Scotland.

It is possible that this not-insignificant difference between the First and subsequent editions of this Single Malt might well be the reason why certification was revoked (?)

Why I won’t (for the time being) be removing the Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask from my list

As mentioned above, the fact that the distillery could no longer guarantee that the Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask was not being matured and finished exclusively in Ex-Bourbon casks, might be the reason why MK revoked the Kashrus certification. I asked the MK about this but their answer was a little vague.

I would be the first to admit that the Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask is not “Mehadren” status due to the possible use of at least a small percentage of Refill Ex-Sherry casks which were used to mature the spirit, before it is finished in Ex-Rum casks.

However, I think that, in my opinion, it seems reasonable that the Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask should continue to be listed on the Whisky Kashrus “Approved” lists (for example, of the CrC and Star-K), due to the fact that all the whisky, and not just a percentage of it, is finished in fresh Rum casks, which will obviously be by far, the dominant flavour influence.

The possible (but not even confirmed) use of some old Refill Ex-Sherry casks for initial maturation will have, in my personal opinion, no Stam Yeinum flavour influence and therefore, as I understand the halachic position of most AKO members, this Whisky does not seem to pose any major Kashrus problem. Having said this, I am Not a Posek and would advise you to check with your own trusted Kashrus organisation before purchasing this particular Single Malt.