Speyside Distillery 21 year old 1996 Old Particular, cask DL12019

Speyside Distillery produced some of the internet's least loved single malts of the past two decades — most notably Cu Dubh, Drumguish, Beinn Dubh The Black — before rebranding themselves as "Spey" and shipping a lot of bottles to China. The Spey brand has crept west, but due to the distillery's early sins I've been unmotivated to try the new stuff.

But recently there have been some independently bottled whisky from Speyside Distllery (not to be mistaken with A Speyside Distillery, which is usually Glenfarclas, and never confusing) that have received positive reviews online. So, since it's a new year......why not?

Distillery: Speyside

Ownership: Speyside Distillers Co.

Region: almost not in Speyside actually

Bottler: Douglas Laing

Range: Old Particular

Age: 21 years old (Sept 1996 to Sept 2017)

Maturation: refill butt

Cask #: DL12019
Outturn: 362 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 51.5%

(from a bottle split)

Before continuing, I would like to direct your attention to a picture of this whisky in my Glencairn glass.

No filters or photo doctoring here. This whisky is redder than Idaho. I know that tint excites many people — which is why Macallan tried to steal everyone's money with Color — but my favorite whisky hue is five-beer-piss, so a whisky darker than a Manhattan cocktail doesn't inspire positive thoughts here. Sure it's a "refill" butt, but what did they do to that cask before refilling it?

NEAT

The nose is much subtler than expected, more on nuts than dried fruits. Walnuts, pecans and almonds up front. Soil and metal in the back. Hints of roses and white peaches. A dollop of toffee pudding. The palate is......good. Very good. Roasted nuts, roasted grains, roasted game. Salt and earth. Truffle salt almonds. Essences of dried cherries and dried cranberries without the sweetness. It finishes with truffle salt, bitter chocolate, bitter coffee and a hint of copper.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or ¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The truffle salt almond note now appears in the nose, along with mocha and dry soil. Hints of pipe tobacco and cranberry juice drift around the edges. Salt and blackest baking chocolate lead the palate. Very very dry sherry. Again the sugarless dried cherry and cranberry notes. It finishes dry AF and as bitter as my 🖤.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Speyside Distillery versus Octomore, who ya got?

Would you believe Speyside? Yes, the whisky is mostly cask. And though ultra-sherried whiskies don't always do it for me, and dry sherry can be a bit difficult for my palate, somehow this particular style really worked for me. Truffle salt + nuts + bitterness + earth + just a hint of fruit = 🙂. If only more sherry cask whiskies were like this! And affordable!

Availability - Probably sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 89

WTF Is This? Macgavin's Highland Single Malt

Speyside Distillery makes some exceptionally poor whisky.  Their 12 year old is probably the worst official age-stated single malt on the market.  Drumguish is drum-gross-ish.  And Cu Dubh is loose poop in a cup.

So when Oliver Klimek tweeted out that Speyside Distillery was releasing another e150a-flooded thingy, Jordan from Chemistry of the Cocktail had the only appropriate response.

@Dramming_Com Barf

— Jordan (@cocktailchem) August 30, 2015

The Speyside Distillery's ownership used to also own Scott's Selection, one of the first indie bottlers to bring cask strength whiskies to The States.  Good stuff (courtesy of other distilleries' casks of course) and at good prices.  When I heard that the company had divested themselves of Scott's Selection, I realized that their (both old and new) management's bad choices extended beyond the confines of what's inside the bottle.

This is unfortunate because they (Harvey's of Edinburgh) are one of the few small businesses remaining in the Scotch industry -- though on the SWA's site, Harvey's lists a Grand Cayman address. The company's former owners specialized in a number of bottom shelf blends, such as Old Monarch, Blackburn, and King Henry VIII, thus malt quality was probably not their first priority.  This new Harvey's ownership seems to have banked on a new "Spey" brand in China and Serge V. seems to like the 18 year old.  Perhaps this means they're attempting to improve things.  Or they're just betting the house on China, which, if economic trends continue, would prove to be another bad decision.

One of the products produced by the previous owners was the Macgavin's series of single malts.  There's little to nothing official about the range online, but I do know that there is or was a "Highland" and a "Speyside" (apparently there's an Islay and Lowland too).  I attended a tasting three years ago (an experience that really deserves its own post) at which I tried both of the "Speyside" and "Highland" whiskies.  According to my notes, both whiskies use single malts from The Speyside Distillery, the difference between the two being "Highland" contains a bit of peated malt.  Way back then I liked the NAS "Highland" more than both the NAS "Speyside" and the official 12 year old.  My whisky buddy JLR (and his wife) were at that very tasting and he bought a bottle of the Highland.  We both eventually departed with much more expensive whisky, but that's another story.  Many thanks to JLR for this sample.

Distillery: The Speyside Distillery
Range: Macgavin's
Ownership (current): Harvey's of Edinburgh

Region: Speyside (but almost not)
Age: ???

Maturation: probably ex-bourbon barrels

Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? Likely so
Colorant added? Likely so

Color - Brass
Nose - A light but ever-present grungy peat coated with vanilla simple syrup and white flour.  A little bit of Ethyl (in my life. A little bit of Monica in---oh shit, I'm sorry).  It's quite cheery and candied.  At first.  After 10 minutes, a sour milk note announces itself.  After 20 minutes, it becomes stinky cheese.  After 30 minutes, it starts to pick up some baking spice and caramel.  It sort of redeems itself as the expired dairy floats away.
Palate - Pencil lead, vanilla, sugar, and light smoke.  Watery texture, though not surprising at this ABV.  A slight peppery zip.  Malt first, then oak.  At first.  After 15 minutes, the sour milk note arrives, but then so does an oaky bitterness.  Then some oak spice, sand, and salt.
Finish - A little citrusy, then peaty.  Some of that milky residue comes and goes.  The citrus builds with time, but so does the oaky bitterness.  A hint of cardboard appears after 30 minutes.

First off, this is better than Cu Dubh, Drumguish, and Speyside 12yo.  I'm not saying it's great.  I'm saying it's drinkable.  And its price point doesn't suck.  It wouldn't be the worst idea for the distillery to bottle something like this at 12 years old and put their name on it, discarding the current "Speyside 12" recipe.

It starts off as a C+ whisky and then goes weird after 10 minutes.  It does pick itself back up after more than a half hour, but never gets back to where it was at first.  It's much too thin and light for water, if you're drinking to taste.  But if you're just plopping it on the rocks, go for it.

Availability - Some specialty retailers in the US
Pricing - $20-$25
Rating - 72

Fail...er...Adventures in Home Blending, Part 3

They're baaaa-aaaaaack.

Actually, I couldn't bring myself to finish either of the minis, so I bottled an equal remained amount of each: 0.5oz and 0.5oz.

I called it:

SPEY SPEY

As you can tell, I put about as much imagination into that name as The Speyside Distillery put into their own.

To counter any zingers about The Speyside I always mention the great indie bottler, Scott's Selection,  their company owns.  Their distributor has an AWESOME rep, Monique Huston, who is whisky brilliant and also awesome.  Much of The Speyside malt goes into their McGavin's blends, of which I recommend the peated Highland blend over the non-peated Speyside blend.

As for Speyburn?  I divulged all I know in last week's post.

So let's get back to this glamo(u)rous home vatted malt.  It was one ounce-worth in total, weighing in at 43% ABV.  It spent 11 days intermingling.  Let's see how it turned out.

October 25, 2012
NEAT:
Color -- Apple juice
Nose -- Vodka and farts. Then vodka farts (there's a subtle difference). Corn chips, ripe apples, nail polish remover, The Turps, barley grains.
Palate -- Not much going on; sweet cream, cheap cologne, some alcohol zip. There's a lightly floral moment. Not actual flowers though, more like bathroom spray (to cover up the vodka farts? No.).
Finish -- Moderate, sweeter, sugary breakfast cereal

W/WATER:
Nose -- Brussels sprouts, burnt grass, rotten eggs
Palate -- Quiet, alcohol, floral bathroom spray remains, late sweetness, creamy, reminiscent of a mild blend.
Finish -- More floral bathroom spray, lightly sweet

Though perhaps not as bad as the notes read, this blend should not be repeated.

Now let us never speak of this again.

Single Malt Report: The Least Epic Taste Off Ever?

Be honest.  You've seen them.  Confused them.  Interchanged them.  The Spey-somethings.  Sitting there on the shelf, looking idly tempting at $19.99, the Speyside 12 and Speyburn 10.

I think there was even a gift set with one of them along with two glasses for $20.  I almost bought it.  For the glasses?

Anyway, these guys get no love.  Yet they are from very much legitimate distilleries.  The Speyside distillery is almost outside of the familiar Speyside region, in the far southwest corner; while Speyburn is smack-dab in the middle of whisky central.

The Speyside Distillery is owned by The Speyside Distillers Company, who also owns the great little indie bottler Scott's Selection.  The former owners bought the distillery land in 1956, but the construction didn't finish until 1987, with the first spirit being run in 1990.  In the meantime, the old ownership, led by George Christie, ran a grain distillery (Strathmore/North of Scotland) for almost 25 years, until it was sold to DCL and closed soonafter.  The Speyside distillery sits right on the bank of the River Tromie, the source of the Spey (as per Charles McLean).  It has at varying times released an 8yr, 10yr, 12yr, 15yr, and the NAS Drumguish.  They also briefly released the widely sh*t-panned black whisky named Cu Dubh.  The bottling we see the most of in The States is this 12yr.

Speyburn Distillery is a bit older.  Built in 1896, they only closed briefly in the 1930s, but otherwise mostly produced malt for blends up until Inver House Distillers (now owned by Thai Beverage) bought the distillery in 2001.  It was actually one of the top six malts in the US for the first few years of the new millenium, but its sales have since dropped by almost 50% here (as per the Yearbook).  They have this 10yr bottling, as well as an (even cheaper!) NAS whisky called Bradan Orach.  Several years back they put out a 25-year Solera bottling that's been consistently well received.

On the personal side of things, I was very happy to find minis of these here and there around town.  $3.99 is a less risky investment than $19.99, according to my maths.  This wasn't going to be the most glamorous Taste Off, but it needed to be done.  And maybe, there was a gem to be found.  Maybe.

THE SPEYSIDE 12

Distillery: Speyside
Ownership: Speyside Distillers Co.
Age: minimum 12 years
Maturation: refill ex-bourbon American oak
Region: Speyside (Glentromie)
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Neat (only)
The color is a medium brass.  The nose is simple.  Malt, sugar cookies, vanilla, a tiny bit of barrel char. Almost a Canadian blend.  Acetone?  A little PVC plastic.  The palate is simpler.  Cocoa, fresh grass, light smoke, the other grass, and an odd cheap vodka (or grain spirit) note.  Its medium-length finish is all malt and grasses.

SPEYBURN 10


Distillery: Speyburn
Ownership: Inver House Distillers (Thai Beverage)
Age: minimum 10 years
Maturation: refill ex-bourbon American oak
Region: Speyside (Rothes)
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Neat (only)
The color is a light brass.  The nose?  Per my notes, "Ew." Young whisky note reminiscent of Black & White or Hankey or Cutty blends.  Bright overripe tropical fruits, not the best oak, bananas and molasses.  Afrin nasal spray?  The palate is a little more approachable.  It's hot and spirity, but mildly smoky, like a very young Johnnie Walker Black Label.  Its simple sweetness grows with time.  The medium-length finish keeps the sweetness, though can be a bit drying.  And there's the unmistakable puff of Swisher Sweets.


WINNER(?):
Nose - Speyside 12
Palate/Finish - Speyburn 10

I was very surprised at how similar these two were to the blends at their price range.  And I don't mean that as a compliment.  Similar to blends like Hankey and Cutty, these two malts wavered between being nearly silent to begging for a drowning in mixers.  The Speyside 12 gets the slight nod overall since the Speyburn 10's nose was substantially short of pleasant.

On a random note, the Speyside 12's packaging was impressively shoddy.  The metal cap broke and fell apart upon opening, while the label was peeling off the bottle.  That may sound petty, but I've had many liquor minis -- a number of them at 99cents a pop -- and this was the crummiest construction of any of them.  Mini presentation is an odd way to fall short, but the whisky within the bottle wasn't much better.  It's too bad, because I really recommend their sister company Scott's Selection's bottlings.  But I do not recommend The Speyside 12 nor the Speyburn 10.

Speyside 12yr
Availability - Many liquor purveyors
Pricing - $23-$28
Rating - 68

Speyburn 10yr
Availability - Many liquor purveyors
Pricing - $17-$23 (cheap!)
Rating - 66

For a completely different take on Speyburn 10 please see this review.