dramlicious.com » Speyside Distillery

SPEY 18 Years Old

Christopher Hayn — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 17:39:38 +0000

OK, one more for today. The SPEY 18 Years Old is currently the oldest expression in the Speyside distillery’s line up and is “carefully selected from some of the oldest SPEY whisky stocks”. To put it short, I am not the biggest fan of the distillery’s NAS like the Chairman’s Choice and the Tanné, so let’s find out if this one is any better.

Facts

Name:	SPEY 18 Years Old
Bottling Series:	Selected Edition
Age:	18 Years Old
Category:	Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery:	Speyside
Cask Type:	Fresh Sherry Casks
Number of bottles:	1,500
Strength:	46.0% Vol.
Colored:	Yes
Chill Filtered:	No

Nose

Fruity but not overly sweet. Kiwis, gooseberries and red apples, balanced by orange peels and lemons. Hints of vanilla and toffee. Some waxy undertones of strawberry candles.

Taste

Light with a creamy sweetness. Apricotes, peaches, vanilla and orange slices in caramel sauce, followed by a slight spiciness of rose pepper and cloves. A whiff of oak in the back. Gets pretty watery after a while.

Finish

Medium. Cafe Latte, milk chocolate and honeyed oranges.

Overall

A good solid Speyside whisky, but nothing amazingly special.

Score: good but not exceptional (81 / 100)

Sample provided by Caminneci – Wine & Spirit Partner

SPEY Tenné

Christopher Hayn — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 16:51:21 +0000

Alright, the second one for today is the SPEY Tenné which is finished in “freshly emptied” Tawny Port casks for 6 months after an initial maturation in ex-Bourbon barrels. I read that the initial maturation period is at least 8 years long, but don’t quote me on that.

By the way, Tenné is another name for Tawny and describes a light brown to brownish-orange color. Maybe you knew that already, but I had to look that one up as non-native speaker.

Facts

Name:	SPEY Chairman’s Choice
Age:	NAS
Category:	Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery:	Speyside
Cask Type:	Tawny Port Finish
Number of bottles:	18,000
Strength:	46.0% Vol.
Colored:	No
Chill Filtered:	No

Nose

Fresh with the sweet smell of fermented strawberries. Then gooseberries, raspberries, red apples and stewed bananas alongside lots of sweet malt. Vanilla pudding, white honey, hard caramel and strawberry toffee. Pretty nice altogether, although the alcohol isn’t that well integrated.

Taste

Sweet and fruity but also rather bitter and alcoholic. Reminds me of strawberry liqueur with a tea spoon of honey.

Finish

Medium with lots of bitter oak. Milk chocolate, strawberries and herbal toothpaste.

Overall

Decent but not that tasty. Seriously, the nose is pretty good, but all the rest is rather disappointing. It’s just too immature and uneven for my liking.

Score: average but worth a try (77 / 100)

Sample provided by Caminneci – Wine & Spirit Partner

SPEY Chairman’s Choice

Christopher Hayn — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 14:26:33 +0000

Before we start today’s session, let me thank Caminneci – Wine & Spirit Partner who were kind enough to send me samples of the SPEY Chairman’s Choice, SPEY Tenné and the SPEY 18 Years Old. I was pleasantly surprised when I had them in the mail and I really intended to review them earlier. What can I say… sometimes I’m a little slow with my reviews.

In case you were wondering already, SPEY is only a brand name and not the name of the actual distillery. The distillery in question is the Speyside distillery. Not a very creative name, or?

The SPEY Chairman’s Choice comes from a tradition started by John & Robert Harvey, where the chairman of the company would choose the finest casks of whisky on Christmas Day to share with the family.

Facts

Name:	SPEY Chairman’s Choice
Age:	NAS
Category:	Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery:	Speyside
Strength:	40.0% Vol.
Colored:	Yes
Chill Filtered:	Yes

Nose

Light, fruity and kinda sourish. Cider vingear and overripe oranges as well as white gooseberries and some pears. Caramel, a bit of vanilla and some grassy notes. Oh, and herbal toothpaste.

Taste

Not as thin as expected. Pears, dried fruits, toffee, roasted nuts, white honey and sugar with cinnamon.

Finish

Short and creamy. Sweet almonds, mint chocolate and hints of oak.

Overall

If you are looking for a simple, anything but challenging single malt that goes down very well and comes in a nice looking, representative packaging, then this one might be the right one for you.

Score: average but worth a try (78 / 100)

Sample provided by Caminneci – Wine & Spirit Partner