Glen Spey 11 Years Old 2014 Cask #802954 (G&M)

This Glen Spey was bottled by Gordon and MacPhail, an 11 year old, distilled in 2014, from cask 802954, at 57.4%, one of 244 bottles. Glen Spey is a Speyside single malt, owned by the London gin house Gilbey from 1887. It was founded in 1878 by the grain merchant James Stuart, who added stills to an old oatmeal mill. Its stills carry purifiers, which raise the reflux and return the heavier vapours for a lighter, cleaner spirit. It is one of five distilleries in the whisky town of Rothes, in the heart of Speyside.

It was run slowly off the four copper stills, shaping a light body with a soft, waxy edge. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin lending vanilla under the light fruit. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the hay softening towards a nutty honey. Long ageing turns the green, herbal edge towards orchard fruit, honey and a gentle spice.

At a natural 57.4% it is full and nutty. A light meadow grass and orchard fruit, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The body is light and clean, the fruit lifted by a gentle oak. A long, grassy finish carries a light fruit and a nutty malt. This is the delicate, grassy malt of Rothes.