Glen Spey 20 Years Old 1997 Cask #5980 (A.D. Rattray)

This Glen Spey comes from A.D. Rattray, the Morrison family bottler, its shop set in the old village school at Kirkoswald on the Ayrshire coast, a 20 year old, distilled in 1997, from cask 5980, at 59%, one of 556 bottles. Glen Spey is a Speyside single malt from Rothes, founded in 1878 as the Mill of Rothes. Its stills were doubled from two to four in the 1970 expansion, the make still light and grassy. When the firm merged with Justerini and Brooks, Glen Spey became a key malt in the J and B blend.

Run slowly off the four copper stills, for a delicate make of fresh grass and orchard fruit. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working into the light malt. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the green grass turning to a nutty honey and soft tropical fruit. Because the purifiers keep the spirit light, the cask shows clearly through the years. Built for the blender's art, the light make ages with quiet grace as a single malt.

At a natural 59% it is full and nutty. Fresh grass, pear and a creamy almond, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Pear, hay and a creamy vanilla fill the middle. The finish is light, grassy and clean. This is the delicate, grassy malt of Rothes.