Speyside Distillery 1995 TWC (The Whisky Cask)

From The Whisky Cask comes this Speyside Distillery single malt, a 20 year old from 1995 and bottled at 54.9%. The outturn was 80 bottles. Painstakingly built by hand before its first spirit in 1990 at Drumguish by the River Tromie, the Speyside Distillery is one of Scotland's smallest. It stood in for the fictional Lagganmore in the BBC series Monarch of the Glen.

Distilled in two of the smallest pot stills in Scotland under a single roof, giving the delicate, floral spirit at its heart. Maturation came in American oak, with vanilla under the orchard fruit. Long ageing brings a deeper dried fruit character and a mellow oak spice. Years in oak round the spirit, the honey and orchard fruit deepening with age. George Christie bought the land in 1956, dreaming of his own small malt distillery. A stonemason, Alex Fairlie, laid every stone of the distillery by hand over some twenty years.

At a full 54.9% it is intense yet fruity. Vanilla and a creamy note from the barrel runs under a clean, honeyed fruitiness. A dried fruit and a gentle oak spice give it depth. The finish runs fresh, soft and fragrant. This is a delicate Speysider from the upper Spey.