Speyside SPEY 10 Years Old

This official Speyside Distillery single malt, a 10 year old from 2009 and bottled at 46%. Only 3000 bottles were released. Set near Kingussie in the upper Spey valley, the Speyside Distillery was hand built near Kingussie and first run in 1990. The first single malt, Drumguish, appeared in 1993, three years after the first spirit ran.

It was worked slowly through short stills to keep the spirit light, for the light, fruity Speyside make the distillery is known for. A wine cask held it, layering red fruit over the honeyed malt. Past a decade the fruit deepens into honey, soft spice and a fuller body. Refill oak lets the delicate distillery character lead, fruit over malt. The distillery played the fictional Lagganmore in the BBC series Monarch of the Glen. The SPEY range and the dark Beinn Dubh are bottled by Harvey's of Edinburgh.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. The Port cask adds plum, red berry and raisin, and green apple and a gentle spice sit alongside honeyed oak sweetness underneath. It is fresh and clean, the fruity spirit shining through. The close is soft, fruit over gentle oak. This is the SPEY single malt from near Kingussie.