Glen Spey 11 Years Old 2010 Cask #801455 (Blackadder)

This Glen Spey was bottled by Blackadder, an 11 year old, distilled in 2010, from cask 801455, at 61.3%, one of 286 bottles. Glen Spey is a Speyside single malt whose purifier stills give a light, grassy spirit. Most of its spirit goes to blends; single malt Glen Spey is rare, and largely the work of independents. It passed to the London gin house W and A Gilbey in 1887, the first English firm to own a Scottish distillery.

The spirit was run slowly off the four copper stills, shaping a light body with a soft, waxy edge. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a soft vanilla and coconut. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the grassy spirit growing rounder and a touch waxy. Built for the blender's art, the light make ages with quiet grace as a single malt. Active wood frames the fruit without ever crowding the delicate Speyside spirit.

At a hearty 61.3% it carries real weight. Fresh grass, pear and a creamy almond, over a gentle, creamy oak. A green apple and a gentle spice lift the middle. The finish is rounded, nutty and clean. This is a Speyside single malt of real lightness.