Production at The Speyside Distillery started in 1990. The distillery took its name from the original distillery of the same name, located in Kingussie, which was operational from around 1895 – 1911. The distillery currently uses Concerto barley, sourced from Crisp Malt, Portgordon. Normally unpeated, but peated distillation takes place for a small amount of time each year (December).
The distillery uses a wide range of casks. The majority of these are American ex-bourbon barrels, but they also use casks sourced from Spain, Portugal and France.
The distillery now only produces single malt, and all samples (casks and marriages) are reviewed and approved for bottling by the Management team – Patricia Dillon (MD), John McDonough (CEO) and other team members are involved in the process.
The below notes are taken from my participation in the Speyside Distillery tweet tasting, hosted by The Whisky Wire.
“The Jewel in the Crown of the SPEY range. Selected from some of the oldest casks in our warehouse, it is a rich and powerful bottling showing great texture and flavour, with a long smooth finish. Only available in limited quantities it serves as the high point in the range.” – Speyside Distillery
Cask: Bourbon and Sherry Limited in quantities Available from the Spey Snug for £150.00:
Appearance: Apple juice mixed with rose wine hue, a good amount of medium legs and a nice oily film on the glass
Nose: Rich and indulgent chocolate cake, plums and cream. Lots of blackberries in honey and sweet goodness! Maybe cherry? A touch of spice and wood notes too. Fruit and Nut bar. As the glass is maturing, a funk is developing. Funk=good!
Palate: Lovely mouthfeel, that sweet and salty element is evident in this expression too, I really like it & can’t remember experiencing it before. It’s like that lovely combination of flavours and twang of saltiness you get in salted chocolate. Lovely. The rich fruit flavours remain from the nose, quite a Christmas dram this one and worthy of the ‘Crown’ title. Some lemon sherbert.
Finish: Salted chocolate, rich dark fruits and a very tiny bit of drying
Overall: Great depth, lots of layers to explore and a luxury feel about it, this one is very nice. I’m not sure I’d part with £150, but it’s definitely premium stuff.
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Intro copy from The Whisky Wire/Speyside Distillery
