Speyside Distillery 1996 Wood Range Sherry Cask (Cadenhead’s)

This Speyside Distillery malt was from the independent bottler Cadenhead's, aged 21 year old from 1996 and bottled at 61.7%. Just 354 bottles were filled. The Speyside Distillery was hand built over two decades by the stonemason Alex Fairlie in the Cairngorm foothills near Kingussie, and it grew from George Christie's vision of his own small distillery. The first single malt, Drumguish, appeared in 1993, three years after the first spirit ran.

The spirit was run slow through small copper stills for a light, fruity spirit, to build a fresh, orchard fruit character. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the light malt. At this age it is rounded and full, the fruit folded into a honeyed, waxy body. A long fermentation and slow distillation in the short stills are managed by hand to keep the spirit light and fruity.

At cask strength 61.7% it is full bodied. The Oloroso brings dried fruit, fig and a nutty depth, and green apple and a gentle spice sit alongside a quiet vanilla from the refill oak. It is fresh and clean, the fruity spirit shining through. It closes long, fruity and honeyed. This is the SPEY single malt from near Kingussie.