Speyside Distillery: still waiting to conquer the heart

The Speyside Distillery near Kingussie in Cairngorms National Park is arguably the most scenic and beautiful operation in the whole of Scotland. A very small business hidden away amongst mountains and streams, it is a delight to visit. My only opportunity was during the Spirit of Speyside festival of 2019, and I am glad we took that chance. In all honesty, it was not the whisky that had drawn us to the Speyside Distillery. We wanted to see the daily going-on of things. Sadly, the products released over the past 30 years, have hardly ever impressed the more hardcore whisky enthusiasts. Be it under the name Glen Tromie or Drumguish, the simpler Speyside or nowadays SPEY (all capitals), it is a whisky that fails to rake in the 90 points score. Even the 80 point mark seems a challenge. No idea why, but tasting some of the range back then did nothing to change my mind. Maybe they aim at different markets, where an other style is required?

Anyway, a while longer ago, at a whisky festival in a beautiful church in Amsterdam, I visited a stand that had a selection of Berry Bros. bottlings on the table. The guy there poured me a glass secretly, and I tasted it. It was a lovely sherried malt, that turned out to be a Speyside Distillery. Just a few years ago I found this bottle, and bought it. Tasting notes below! I coupled it with a sample I bought from someone. This is a single cask bottling from the 1991 vintage.

It seems the Speyside Distillery is doing well, as there are plans to expand to a new distillery. If this is going to be a replacement distillery or an expansion to two operations, is not entirely clear, even though the Malt Whisky Yearbook seems to suggest as much to the former.

Speyside 18 years old, bottled at 56,1 % abv by Berry Bros & Rudd

Makeup: Single cask # 33 was bottled in the Berry’s series and was distilled in 1995. Sherry cask.

General impressions: Nosing a whisky like this, makes it easy to reach the conclusion that SPEY is matured in casks that do not really favor the whisky. Because this, to me, is really a great nose. Lots of red fruit, old wood, old books, slightly leaning towards cigar leaves. Textbook sherry matured whisky, and a good cask at that. The palate reveals a very lightweight character that was gently enveloped by a dominant cask, but it does not hurt too much. Less fruity, more cigar, even with some gentle wood smoke. The alcohol is a bit hot upon the exit, but the finish is nice and warming because of it. With water, some lighter aroma comes out, like bread and caramel, but the taste does not improve.

Conclusion: What an excellent cask can do for your whisky is proven by this bottling. A very good pick by Berry Bross & Rudd here.

Score: 87 points

Speyside 24 years old, bottled at 62 % abv by Whisky Import Nederland

Makeup: Single cask # 942 was bottled in the First Cask series and was distilled in 1991. This Refill Sherry Puncheon produced exactly 100 bottles. Distilled on 11 November 1991 and bottled on 23 September 2016. Quite high in alcohol after 24 years.

General impressions: Funky smells rise from the glass. I am reminded of a dusty library, the sun is shining through the window on a cold winter day, and is hitting the wood of the book shelves. Warmed up wood. There are some notes of mold, orange zest and lemon juice. Well, this announces a challenge, I suspect. The taste is rather sour, as far as I can get through the alcohol. Some rounded aspects too, mostly leaning to tangerines and bitterish wood. The alcohol is doing a lot of cloaking here. Let’s dilute. The aroma blooms open some more now, but still the whisky is not very talkative. Some flowers, mostly crowfoot, some gorge, and linseed. This is an unorthodox whisky, to say the least. I get sunflower oil too. Not something I would expect to find. Sadly, the taste has turned entirely too bitter to still enjoy, due to the water.

Conclusion: The nosing was actually pretty entertaining, but drinking this whisky is really a problem. Undiluted it is too harsh, with some water it is too bitter. In both ways certainly not a pleasure to drink. I wonder what the reasoning was behind bottling this whisky. The aromas save the day, but that is about all of it.

Score: 75 points

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