Glen Spey 14 Years Old 2009 Cask #804619 (BB&R)

This Glen Spey was bottled by Berry Bros and Rudd, a 14 year old, distilled in 2009, from cask 804619, at 55%, one of 267 bottles. Glen Spey is a Speyside single malt made on Doonie Burn water at Rothes. Its stills carry purifiers, which raise the reflux and return the heavier vapours for a lighter, cleaner spirit.

The spirit was run slowly off the four copper stills, building a light, fragrant spirit with a thread of nuttiness. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the spirit lead. 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. Maturation in the racked warehouses is slow and even, the Speyside air cool and steady. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

At 55%, undiluted, it is deep and waxy. Green grass, light honey and a nutty malt, over a gentle, creamy oak. It is grassy and gently nutty, the delicate spirit shining through. Green apple, grass and a soft oak see it out. This is the delicate, grassy malt of Rothes.