Glen Spey 18 Years Old 2002 Cask #DL 13903 (Old Particular)

Douglas Laing, the Glasgow family bottler, bottled this Glen Spey, distilled in 2002, from cask DL 13903, at 48.4%, one of 347 bottles. Glen Spey is a Speyside single malt from Rothes, founded in 1878 as the Mill of Rothes. It was bottled as a single malt in Diageo's Flora and Fauna range in 2001, one of its rare official outings. It sits below the ruins of Castle Rothes, once the seat of the Earls of Rothes. It is one of five distilleries in the whisky town of Rothes, in the heart of Speyside.

It was drawn off after a ferment of two to three days, building a light, fragrant spirit with a thread of nuttiness. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the malt. At oxidative maturity aldehydes lend a nutty edge while ellagitannins draw a gentle, drying grip across the malt. The lantern stills set a light, fresh tone that the oak then slowly deepens.

At 48.4%, undiluted, it is deep and waxy. Green grass, light honey and a nutty malt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is light, a faint waxiness carrying the fruit. A long, grassy finish carries a light fruit and a nutty malt. This is a Speyside single malt of real lightness.