Glen Spey 14 Years Old 2006 Cask Series 011 (North Star)

This Glen Spey was bottled by North Star Spirits, a 14 year old, distilled in 2006, at 59.1%, released for a whisky festival. Glen Spey is a light, fragrant Speyside malt of fresh grass and a nutty malt. Under Gilbey it took the Glen Spey name and supplied the house Spey Royal blend. It sits below the ruins of Castle Rothes, once the seat of the Earls of Rothes.

It was run slowly off the four copper stills, shaping a light body with a soft, waxy edge. An Oloroso cask held it, drawing the light spirit deeper over the years. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the hay softening towards a nutty honey. Years in oak round the spirit, the fresh notes deepening towards a nutty honey and orchard fruit. Because the purifiers keep the spirit light, the cask shows clearly through the years. Maturation in the racked warehouses is slow and even, the Speyside air cool and steady.

At 59.1%, undiluted, it is deep and waxy. Green apple, hay and a soft cereal, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is light and clean, the fruit lifted by a gentle oak. It finishes light, fresh and faintly nutty. This is a Speyside single malt of real lightness.