Glen Spey 13 Years Old 2008 Watt Whisky (Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd.)

The Campbeltown Whisky Company bottled this Glen Spey, a 13 year old, distilled in 2008, at 53.6%, one of 280 bottles. Glen Spey is a delicate, grassy Speyside single malt, light and clean in the glass. It passed to the London gin house W and A Gilbey in 1887, the first English firm to own a Scottish distillery. James Stuart held the licence to Macallan at the time, and bought that distillery outright in 1886.

The spirit was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, building a light, fragrant spirit with a thread of nuttiness. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a light vanilla and a touch of honey. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the hay softening towards a nutty honey. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak round the spirit, the fresh notes deepening towards a nutty honey and orchard fruit.

At 53.6%, undiluted, it is deep and waxy. Fresh cut grass, green apple and a nutty malt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A green apple and a gentle spice lift the middle. A long, grassy finish carries a light fruit and a nutty malt. This is a Speyside single malt of real lightness.