Speyside Distillery New Make 70.6%
Tasted: July 2019
The nose is very soft, milky and vanillary with hints of raw cereal and latent fruit esters. Very full and rounded
The palate is a little oilier with subtle ‘off the still’ notes. More cerealy and less of the milky character found on the nose. Still there’s plenty of latent fruit and the alcohol is very well integrated.
A drop of water makes the nose a little rawer, oilier and showing more cereal. The palate is sweeter though with more barley emphasis. Still a little oily and subtly milky with lingering latent fruit.
Speyside Distillery ‘Chairman’s Choice’ 40%
Code: 97-15349
Tasted: Oct 2015
A very nutty, fresh and herbal refill sherry nose with hints of barley and sweet vanilla. Pleasantly balanced with late hints of toffee and banana.
The palate is soft and a little under-powered. Again, showing a gentle refill sherry sweetness and a light nuttiness along with a touch of dried fruit. Good, woody spice finish with hints of bitter chocolate and liquorice.
Speyside Distillery ‘Chairman’s Choice’ 40%
Code: L18/8049
Re-Tasted: Sept 2022
The nose is luscious and leafy with light but succulent sherried dried fruit (sultana, grape, apricot). Showing more class and maturity than I remember, mind, the last time I tasted it was 2015! Dusty spice, incense and mocha. Late fern/ pine notes.
The palate is soft and still suffering a bit from not being bottled at a high abv, however it’s rather pleasantly imbued with chocolate (powder) and hints of raisin and sultana. It does build well from a slow start to show a good depth and subtle spiciness. Good length with a citric lift on the finish and returning cocoa powder aftertaste.
Speyside Distillery ‘Beinn Dubh’ 43%
The Black Mountain
Matured in STR (shaved, toasted and re-charred) casks ruby and tawny port casks along with lots of caramel!
Tasted: Oct 2015
A nose of bitter and burnt oak, toffee and cola along with raisins, prune, sweet, burnt brown sugar and wait for it….. Port….. And lots of it!
The palate is thick and sweet. A dark, porty fruit overload with raisin, treacle, toasted oak and dark chocolate. Very bitter finish with lingering toasted toffee and treacle. Good job it wasn’t bottled at 40%!
Speyside Distillery ‘Beinn Dubh’ 43%
Re-Tasted: July 2019
Aromas of bitter, burnt raisins, caramel and harsh, raw oak. Hints of black fruit, citrus, cola and more caramel.
The palate is flat and caramelised with burnt oak and sweet raisinated fruit. Buckets of caramel, syrup and porty fruit on the middle. Short, caramel bitterness, burnt sugar and cola finish.
Speyside Distillery ‘Cu Dubh’ 40%
The Black Dog
Aged for approximately 5 years in heavily charred casks and heavily caramelised
Tasted: Aug 2006
A sweet and syrupy nose, totaly dominated by the caramel, burnt toffee and acetone!
The palate isn’t much better (surprise!), sweet and syrupy with a vapid middle and loads of burnt toffee, pure black liquorice and a touch of spice. Why would anyone want to drink this?
Speyside Distillery Fumare 46%
Tasted: July 2019
The nose is quite earthy with earthy peat, smoked meat, coffee, tar, heather and violets. Beneath lies a good depth of rich fruit with a touch of oak. With time fresh vanilla and berry fruits.
The palate is a little fresher but still quite earthy with violets and peat. All told it’s a classic peated Spey with not too much peat and allowing the rich fruit and oak to show. Subtly spiced finish with lingering oily peat and barley.
Speyside Fumare Cask Strength Batch 3 57.5%
Tasted: June 2021
A warm and aromatic nose of barley and vanilla with a good dollop of astringent peat. Very phenolic and almost seaweedy with sweet, heathery peat and fleshy fruit beneath. With time it becomes quite woody and citric.
The palate opens with some sweet-ish barley, straw, oily apricot, apple and astringent, phenolic peat. Lovely mouth-feel and balance. The peat becomes earthier and dustier on the middle. Long and fruity with the herbal, astringent peat returning along with a touch of wood and citrus.
Water makes the peat subtler on the nose and emphasises the juicy, estery fruit. The palate is also less peated and now displays more barley and straw. It also brings out a slight bitter spice note and the peat is drier on the finish.
Speyside Distillery Fumare Cask Strength Batch 3 57.5%
Re- Tasted: Sept 2022
The nose opens with leafy/ herbal peat and hints of earth, almond, apricot, pear, white peach and white pepper. Lovely nose with an almost medicinal herbal quality. Late sweet peat smoke, lime and grass.
Te palate is fresh and crisp with slightly oily white peach, pear and apricot. Lovely sooty and sweet peat with a touch of pepper, bitter wood spice, tar, liquorice and barley. Masked but intense and spicy, mouth-watering, herbal finish with lingering raw peat and alcohol.
With water the nose becomes slightly bubblegummy with lighter peat. Still herbal and citric with a touch of grassiness now. The palate is oilier and fuller and now shows some vanilla oak. Fleshier fruit and ashier peat notes with hints bubblegummy fruit on the middle. Long, juicy finish with lingering peat dust, sweet heather and cardamom. As stunning finish!
Speyside Distillery Royal Choice 46%
A vatting of late 1990’s and early 2000’s sherry casks and younger Bourbon casks.
Tasted: July 2019
Aromas of coffee’d and herbal sherry with liquorice, ginger, nutmeg and raisinated fruit. With time a touch of orange/ lemon rind appears along with a touch of wood smoke. A little straightforward but juicy and sweet.
The palate opens with the juicy raisinated fruit – date, prune and fig. Definitely relatively matured sherry with hints of vanilla, barley and succulent citrus. Although initially it’s all about the sherry, the American oak is noticeable and it has a better balance than the nose. Good length with lingering barley, straw, wood smoke, American oak and spirit.
Speyside Distillery ‘Spey Tenne’ 46%
Bourbon/ 6 months finishing in ex tawny port casks
Tasted: Oct 2015
The warm, soft, ripe, dusty, tawny port notes appear first along with some herbal spice notes. The barley and apricot attempts to come through but the finish is too dominant.
The palate is like the nose, opening with the port notes, followed by the barley, light honey and spice. Medium length and a little hot with hints of vanilla and slightly bitter, duty chocolate notes. Pleasant spicy after-taste through.
Speyside Distillery ‘Spey Tenne’ 46%
Re-Tasted: July 2019
Aromatic and juicy red berries and dried fruit with hints of barley and vanilla. The nose has a better balance than I remember. Slightly herbal with developing oily fruit and straw.
The palate opens with sweet berry fruit and a touch of syrup. Gently spiced with apricot, barley and grippy tannins. Slightly heavier on the port character than the nose would suggest with a little oily spirit on the middle. Intense, youthful, oily finish with hints of raw cereal.
Speyside Distillery Tenne Cask Strength Batch 2 58.36%
Bourbon/ Tawny Port finish
Tasted: Sept 2022
The nose is tight and earthy with bran flakes and peppery black fruit. Herbal and edgy with possibly a bit too much port. Late charred oak.
The palate is herbal, edgy, grippy and tannic. Hints of syrup coated black fruit, bran flakes and burnt spice. A little ungainly perhaps but a very peppery middle. Masked finish as the alcohol slams the door on any further progression.
Water lessens the intensity of the Port finish, but it’s still a bit edgy with hints of straw-like barley, white fruit and pepper. The palate is a little vague with again. less Port influence, but like the nose still a bit edgy with bran flakes and straw. Good length with a pepper overload in the finish and lingering sweet black fruit.
Speyside Distillery Trutina 46%
100% Bourbon matured
Tasted: July 2019
Wonderfully aromatic and barley’d with succulent American oak, vanilla and nuts. The fruit is subtle but not overpowered and shows apricot, pineapple and lime. Late hints of straw and wood smoke.
The palate opens with slightly oily barley and succulent vanilla oak. Hints of straw, apricot, apple and pineapple follow with richer oak notes coming through on the middle. Long and grippy with lingering oily fruit, barley and vanilla.
Speyside Distillery Trutina Cask Strength 59.1%
Batch 1
Tasted: July 2019
Intense and aromatic with nutty, toasty oak and hints of barley, honeysuckle, pear, apricot and ginger. Like the 46% bottling it shows a touch of wood smoke and late gooseberry, lime and vanilla ice cream.
The palate is soft but intense with plenty of barley, toasty oak, nuts and ‘Bourbony’ notes. Mouth-watering citrus and alcohol balances the oak and clear a path for the apricot, apple and wood spice to come through on the middle. Long with the oak returning and lingering rye-like spice, grippy tannins and vanilla.
With water the nose is juicy and quite estery with a pineapple note joining the fruit. The oak is still toasty but subtler and there is still plenty of barley character. The palate is oily and barley’d with softer estery fruit and subtler oak, although the oak is a little sweeter and more vanilla’d. The finish is the same as it is neat, although maybe a little drier.
Spey Trutina Cask Strength Batch 3 59.1%
Tasted: June 2021
The nose displays an almost New World Sauvignon-like character along with creamy Bourbon oak. Well endowed with estery white fruit, apricot, barley, cut grass, pineapple and toffee. There’s also a noticeable alcohol prickle.
The palate has a lovely intensity of creamy oak, estery pineapple, apricot, melon, grass, barley and vanilla. The alcohol is well integrated and the mid palate is very grassy. The finish is a little masked but the juicy, estery fruit lingers.
Water make the nose less grassy and oaky, but it still retains all that lovely fruitiness. A touch of white liquorice and almonds now. The palate is similar, less grassy and oaky with the emphasis now on the barley and citrus. Long with lingering, slightly sweeter estery fruit.
Speyside Distillery Trutina Cask Strength Batch 4 59.4%
Tasted: Sept 2022
The nose is quite tight with straw-like barley and hints of pear, lime. apricot, lemon and honey. With time some subtle creamy oak appears. Pleasantly fresh but needs some time to open and probably some water too.
The palate opens with the creamy and toffee’d oak followed by barley, straw and toasted nuts. Like the nose it is tight and masked. A suggestion of white fruit, honey and straw in the finish.
Water brings emphasises the lemon and lime. Not as straw-like now with some floral honey and pear drops. Less oak as well, not that there was a huge amount on the nose to start with! The palate is still fairly toffee’d and straw-like and doesn’t appear to have opened up as well as the nose. Heavy, oily middle with a touch of burnt toffee. Medium length, continuing straw-like.
Speyside Distillery 10 year old
Tasted: Oct 2004
Quite weighty with some deep citrus, honey and a touch of smoke, vanilla and gristiness.
The palate is slightly watery with some confected orange fruit along with a violet note. It gains some malty weight on the middle with some honey and smoke. Clean, straightforward with a good peppery finish.
Speyside Distillery ‘Spey 12’ 46%
Bourbon/ 6 months finishing in Virgin oak
Tasted: Oct 2015
Good depth and intensity of barley and herbal accented green fruit. The oak starts off quite subtly (vanilla) but builds to become rather toasty, creamy, nutty and sweet. However the citrus balances.
The palate shows plenty of toasty, creamy and nutty oak with hints of sweet barley and juicy citrus. Good, spicy and herbal finish with a slight bittering from the oak. Lovely red liquorice and dusty spice after-taste.
Speyside Distillery ‘Spey 18’ 46%
Sherry
Tasted: Oct 2015
A lovely, elegant and full nose of succulent, slightly herbal sherry with hints of sweet, leafy herbs, barley and malt. A whiff of exotic fruit appears (melon, peach and apricot) and with time it becomes fragrant and pleasantly creamy.
Full and juicy on the palate but some crisp citrus adds balance. Gently honeyed and subtly sherried, so the emphasise is firmly on the barley and fruit notes. Lovely building minerality on the middle with hints of fragrant herbs. Long with a light smokiness and a little bitter wood notes. Very impressive!
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 