Balblair distillery in situated in the northern Highland region, currently under the ownership of Inver House Distillers and previously part of the Hiram Walker empire before it became Allied Distillers. Allied sold it to Inver House in 1996, who introduced the much-loved vintage-dated core range in 2007. Distillery bottlings were also produced in the 1980s but in the intervening years, independent releases like this were the most commonly available way to sample this lesser-known Highland single malt.

Balblair was one of the distilleries that licensed its brand to Gordon & MacPhail to produce official releases in the 1970s and 1980s, not having the capacity to do so itself at the time. This good standing with the distillery furnished the Elgin-based independent firm with a steady supply of high quality casks, and subsequently, high quality releases.

The black and red labelled Connoisseurs Choice labels were the very first. The range was initially devised for Edoardo Giaccone in Italy in the early 1970s, but became part of the main Gordon & MacPhail portfolio in 1979.