Speyburn Speyside Preserve (The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd.)

From The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd comes this Speyburn, drawn from cask 8872 and bottled at 56%. A release of 420 bottles. Speyburn was opened in 1897 by John Hopkin and Company in the heart of Speyside at Rothes; it is now an Inver House Speyside malt. The name joins the river Spey with the Scots word burn, for a Speyside stream.

The spirit was made in copper onion stills, the spirit cooled in worm tubs, for a fruity, honeyed make of real charm. A wine cask held it, layering red fruit over the honeyed malt. Without an age statement, the malt is clean, fruity and well rounded. Sherry wood suits the make well, lending dried fruit and a nutty depth. The classic onion stills and worm tubs give a fresh yet rounded Speyside spirit. Hopkins also owned Tobermory on Mull when he built Speyburn in 1897. The cool Speyside glen gives a slow, even maturation in dunnage warehouses.

Bottled at a cask strength 56%, it is rich. The Port cask adds plum and red berry, and vanilla and a creamy note from the barrel runs under honey, apple and a soft spice. The texture is rounded and soft, the fruit lifted by honey. A long, honeyed finish carries a fruity lift. This is a honeyed Speyside single malt of real charm.