Tasting notes for two 1990s Speysiders

Continuing our path through the decades this week with two Speyside whiskies distilled in the 1990s. At one point, both were to be closed distilleries, but Glen Keith is nowadays back as a workhorse distillery for the Chivas blends. The distillery seems to have heritage, it was built in Speyside and has a name starting with “Glen…” but it was actually a ‘newish’ distillery, only opened in 1958. Back then, it was the first new operation in Speyside of the twentieth century. At the end of that century, the story of Glen Keith seemed to end, when the distillery was mothballed in 1999. Back in 2013, the stills were fired up once more, for the latest whisky boom.

We will kick off this session however with a truly lost distillery, and that is Caperdonich. Once built as ‘Glen Grant 2’ across the road from the original and more famous distillery in Rothes, the output gathered a lot more attention when independent bottler Duncan Taylor from Huntly started releasing incredible casks from the 1972 vintage. Then, it turned out, it was discovered that this was not the only high quality vintage made at Caperdonich. In recent years, certain peated batches have appeared. Now those I like a lot less, but there is a share of fans for this style too.

Caperdonich 19 years old, vintage 1992, bottled at 46 % abv by Van Wees

Makeup: This bottling in The Ultimate series was distilled on 3 April 1992 and matured since then in hogshead number 46241. When bottled on 6 December 2011, it produced 316 bottles.

General impressions: It has been a while since I tasted a Caperdonich, or sniffed it for that matter, but it strikes me as typical. Not unlike the neighbouring Glen Grant, this whisky is fruity and fresh like just mown grass. Some banana, vanilla and white grapes arise. A hint of limestone too. Very easy and straightforward to enjoy. The taste is more intense, but has too much lemon character to let other fruity notes really shine. They are there, I’m sure, but a bit hidden. The finish is again clean and fresh, with vanilla wood notes adding some age to a dram that in general comes off a bit younger than the stated 19 years. With water, some more candy flavours do come out.

Conclusion: An above average example of a dime a dozen Speyside single malt. Very clean.

Score: 85 points

Glen Keith 25 years old, vintage 1991, bottled at 46 % abv by Signatory Vintage

Makeup: This bottling in The Un-Chillfiltered Collection was distilled on 5 June 1991 and matured since then in cask 73636. When bottled on 2 September 2016, it produced 202 bottles. The bottling was done for the 10th anniversary of bottler The Nectar.

General impressions: Another fresh plain cask here, but Glen Keith spirit seems more feisty coming from the glass. Is that the distillate or also some extra years in the cask, compared to the six years younger Caperdonich? Lots more gummy bear candy here, some forest minty character and lots of vanilla. Some wood smoke rising adds complexity. Taking a sip, this Glen Keith stays quite close to the Caperdonich in clean, fruity and bourbon matured character. But the spirit is definitely more oily on the palate. The wood is more dominant, leaving room for a spicy finish that lingers for a long time. 

I like how the spirit is not too overpowered by the cask, and that there are no bitter notes to speak off. It is all fruit and spice, underlining the fact that Glen Keith is a more rough example of a Speyside whisky. You could say this could easily duel with the more left-field distilleries that other companies use to give their blends backbone, like Dailuaine or Balblair. Upon returned tasting, there is even a little honeyed and waxy note.

Conclusion: Some sort of Clynelish-like Speysider, this Glen Keith. I have gotten very curious to more recently distilled output (2013 and after).

Score: 87 points

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