- Chapter 1 : HEATH AND HEATHER
- Where do you start with the story of one of the world's great whiskies? Master Blender Robert Hicks is in no doubt....
- Chapter 2 : THE CLANS AND USQUEBAUGH
- Imagine a life when winters were so harsh that survival was uncertain. Terrain so rugged that the shortest journey took several days. Homes vulnerable to marauding bands who stole cattle and destroyed whole communities. For centuries Scots endured a wild landscape, warring families, invasion by the English and systematic attempts to destroy their culture. Small wonder their character is hallmarked by fierce independence and a will to survive....
- Chapter 3 : REBELLION
- 'Down round the southern corner of the dun there was a field of barley all ripened by the sun. In a small wind it echoed faintly the sound of the ocean; at night it sighed and rustled as the earth mother thought over things, not without a little anxiety....
- Chapter 4 : GEORGE BALLANTINE
- In 1822, a horse-drawn farm cart rattled through the rolling Peebleshire hills on the road to Edinburgh. However, it was not one of farmer Archibald Ballantine's usual trips to the city for supplies. That morning, he had dressed in his Sunday best before leaving the patchwork fields of his farm at Broughton-Home....
- Chapter 5 : TO THE WORLD
- By the middle of the 19th century, George Ballantine had built steady custom in London through...
- Chapter 6 : THE CREATION OF 17 YEARS OLD
- One of the most memorable stories about former Master Blender Jack Goudy's talent for detecting lapses in quality happened several years ago when he uncorked a malt whisky sample. It came from an outside company in the hope that Ballantine's might purchase some to use in its blends. Jack poured a small quantity and duly inserted his famous nose in the tulip glass....
- Chapter 7 : A COAT OF ARMS
- The flavour and quality of Ballantine's 17 Years Old set it apart from other whiskies. But even before the bottle is opened, something about it is undeniably unique....
- Chapter 8 : BARLEY
- The sheaf of barley occupies the first quarter of Ballantine's coat of arms because ripe grain represents the beginning of the process of making whisky. In the beginning there was barley - an ancient bond of man and nature....
- Chapter 9 : WATER
- The flowing stream is featured prominently on Ballantine's coat of arms, not simply because water is a vital ingredient of whisky, but because it also forms such an important part of the Scottish climate....
- Chapter 10 : THE POT STILL
- The pot still is featured on the shield of Ballantine's coat of arms because of its immense influence on flavour and quality in the distillation process....
- Chapter 11 : MATURATION
- The final quarter which completes the shield of Ballantine's coat of arms depicts a cask, signifying the importance of maturation in the whisky-making process. During the long years spent slumbering in wood, whisky acquires its colour, mellowness and depth of flavour, a vital 'growing up' of the young spirit which cannot be hurried....
- Chapter 12 : SCOTCH WATCH
- The four aspects of distilling depicted on Ballantine's coat of arms have now run their course, bringing the whisky-making process full circle. Ripe barley has been malted and mashed with pure spring water, distilled in traditional copper pots and, finally, left to mature for a minimum of 17 years....
- Chapter 13 : MASTER BLENDER
- One of the most mesmerising sights of the whole whisky-making process is to watch a Master Blender testing casks. With his assistant at his side, he moves along the rows at a brisk pace, pausing to nose a glass handed to him before passing on like a priest administering communion....
- Chapter 14 : MALT WHISKY
- The recipe of 17 Years Old remains a closely-guarded secret, handed down from Master Blender George Robertson to Jack Goudy to Robert Hicks and known only to half a dozen people within the company. A copy is locked in the vault at Allied Domecq's London office....
- Chapter 15 : GRAIN WHISKY
- Grain is seen as the quiet companion in blended whisky, a spirit that some consider pales into insignificance against the characterful collection of malts....
- Chapter 16 : THE BLENDER'S ART
- When you consider how many individual influences make a single malt unique - malted barley with its range of peatiness; water drawn from deep beneath the landscape; singular, often quirky still shapes; even the air of Scotland itself, leaving a gentle fingerprint as casks mature - it is hardly surprising that Ballantine's 17 Years Old contains layer upon layer of flavours....
- Chapter 17 : SAVOURING 17 YEARS OLD
- In the tasting room, the pale northern light grew dim and the trees outside looked gaunt against the sky. Robert opened his eyes, sniffed his glass, and took an unhurried sip, leaving no doubt that exploring the aromas and allowing flavours to roll over the tongue was the most fitting way to complete the circle and bring the day to a close....
