Speyside Distillery 1991 Sb (Sansibar)

Sansibar bottled this Speyside Distillery single malt, aged 27 year old from 1991, drawn from cask 63 and bottled at 53.5%. Only 286 bottles were released. The Speyside Distillery, raised single handed by a drystone mason over some twenty years on a former mill site by the River Tromie, is the source of the SPEY malts. Its two small pot stills, among the smallest in Scotland, sit with the whole production under one roof.

It was drawn off short stills coaxed by hand towards a delicate make, for a clean, honeyed spirit of real finesse. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, lending honey and vanilla. At a quarter century and more it is rich and waxy, candied fruit, honey and old oak over a fragrant base. The cool upper Spey climate gives a slow, even maturation over the years. The SPEY range and the dark Beinn Dubh are bottled by Harvey's of Edinburgh. Short stills and slow, hands on distillation coax a light, fruity spirit.

At a hearty 53.5% it carries real weight. The refill oak lending honey and vanilla runs under honey, apple and a soft spice. It is fragrant and rounded, the fruit and oak well matched. The finish is rounded, honeyed and soft. This is a clean, fragrant Speyside single malt.