Speyside SPEY 12 Years Old (46% Europe)

A distillery bottling from the Speyside Distillery, a 12 year old and bottled at 46%. Just 3000 bottles were filled. Set close to the very source of the River Spey, the Speyside Distillery was slowly converted from an old mill by one stonemason. Its two small pot stills, among the smallest in Scotland, sit with the whole production under one roof.

The spirit was made in small stills after a long, ester building fermentation, for a soft, fruity make from short stills. A refill American oak cask held it, keeping the light character to the fore. By this age the light spirit rounds into heather honey and orchard fruit. Long, gentle ageing turns the fresh fruit towards honey and soft spice. The first single malt, Drumguish, was released in 1993 after three years in the warehouse. 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.

At 46% it is smooth and fruity. A gentle vanilla and coconut from the wood runs under honey, apple and a soft spice. It is fragrant and rounded, the fruit and oak well matched. A warming, fruity finish lingers. This is a clean, fragrant Speyside single malt.