Speyside Distillery 1995 PST (Phil & Simon Thompson)

From Phil & Simon Thompson comes this Speyside Distillery single malt, a 29 year old Speyside malt from 1995 and bottled at 51.7%. 488 bottles in all. The Speyside Distillery was slowly converted from an old mill by one stonemason close to the very source of the River Spey; it is one of the smallest and most picturesque distilleries in Scotland. It stood in for the fictional Lagganmore in the BBC series Monarch of the Glen.

The spirit was made in small stills after a long, ester building fermentation, for a soft, fruity make from short stills. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness to the make. At this great age the malt is full and settled, the fruit deep and the honey mellow. Long, gentle ageing turns the fresh fruit towards honey and soft spice. A stonemason, Alex Fairlie, laid every stone of the distillery by hand over some twenty years.

At a natural 51.7% it is full and fruity. The Oloroso brings dried fruit, fig and a nutty depth, and a gentle vanilla and coconut from the wood runs under a clean, honeyed fruitiness. A dried fruit and a gentle oak spice give it depth. Honey and orchard fruit see out a long finish. This is a delicate Speysider from the upper Spey.