Speyside Distillery 1996 Cl (Claxton’s)

Bottled by Claxton's, this Speyside Distillery single malt, a 26 year old from 1996, drawn from cask C22050 and bottled at 49.2%. 187 bottles in all. Set near Kingussie in the upper Spey valley, the Speyside Distillery was hand built near Kingussie and first run in 1990. George Christie bought the land in 1956 and had a stonemason raise the distillery by hand over the years that followed.

It was worked slowly through short stills to keep the spirit light, for the light, fruity Speyside make the distillery is known for. A Sauternes wine cask lent honey, apricot and a candied sweetness. At this great age the malt is full and settled, the fruit deep and the honey mellow. Refill oak lets the delicate distillery character lead, fruit over malt. A stonemason, Alex Fairlie, laid every stone of the distillery by hand over some twenty years.

Bottled at a cask strength 49.2%, it is rich. The Sauternes lends honey, apricot and a candied sweetness, and orchard fruit and a floral lift sit alongside honeyed oak sweetness underneath. A ripe pear and a gentle spice lift it. The close is soft, fruit over gentle oak. This is the fresh Speyside style of the SPEY range.