Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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Speyside:

Glen Spey

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Glen Spey Distillery
Rothes
Morayshire AB38 7AY
+44 1340 831 215

Owner: United Distillers and Vintners (Diageo)

Creation date 1885

The licence holder of Macallan, James Stuart altered an old mill to make it a distillery in 1884. As soon as 1885, the first distillate came out of the stills of this distillery, situated south of Rothes. This distillery was first called Millhaugh, and has been sold to W&A Gilbey Ltd in 1887. This wine merchant of London owned also Strathmill, and would acquire Knockando seven years later, in 1904.
Gilbey remained independent up to 1962, when the company became International Distillers & Vintners (IDV), after a long collaboration with United Wine Traders, which has been absorbed by Justerini and Brooks ten years earlier.
Watney Mann took the company over in 1972, and Watney Mann fall under control of Grand Metropolitan which would become Diageo after merging with Guinness. The distillers branch of Diageo is United Distillers & Vintners (UDV).
Important alteration works occurred in 1969-70. The number of stills was doubled and the malting floors transformed in warehouses.
Like most of the distilleries in Scotland, Glen Spey closed during the two world wars, due to a lack of barley.
The whole production is used in blends and the only bottlings who are marketed as single malt are coming from independent bottlers or are to be found in the UDV's collection "Fauna & Flora".
Glen Spey enters in the composition of J&B and Spey Royal.

The whisky

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

	Glen-Spey
			Sample
O.B.	Fauna & Flora, 12 years	17 1/5
Jack Wieber	Auld Distillers Collection 32 years	18
Malts of Scotland	1977, bourbon hogshead

See Help 0 - 40 € 40 - 80 € 80 - 120 € 120 - 160 € 160 - 200 € 200 - 240 € 240 - 280 € > 280 €

Glen Spey Fauna & Flora 12 years
Age	12 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

The whisky, rather discrete from a strictly commercial point of view, is very attractive from the very first nosing. An impression of lightness, together with some spice hints do regret that nearly all the production is used in blends. The taste confirms the first impression. A rather pleasant whisky. A finish of average length prolongs the pleasure for some too short minutes. I would have appreciated a longer finish and a lower price. But, rare things are often expensive...

The second tasting confirmed the rather pleasant character of this whisky, and the finish seemed longer than the first time. A rather strong and long aftertaste on malt notes remains for a while in the palate, and the pleasant spicy taste disappears slowly.

The nose is slightly spiced with a discrete hint of smoke. In the palate, this whisky is quite pleasant, but not really wonderful. The taste is rather complex but a bit dry and with a certain lack at personality. The finish is pleasant.

The nose is fresh with some hazelnut notes, some tingling and a touch of citrus fruit on a background of malty barley and some farm smells (between hay and boiled patato pealings). In the palate, a rather oily but monotone whisky, with some discrete woody hints and less variations in the taste. The finish is quite long, but rather flat, and does not recall a particular aspect of the taste in the mouth.

The nose is pleasantly marked by malted barley mixed with nice spices. Fine vanilla notes follow, the whole being nicely smooth with however an undoubtedly character.
In the palate, the first impression is vanilla and the feeling of malty sweetness dominates clearly, No aggressivity at all, character even if a certain lack at complexity makes it an average whisky, Even if it is not a great whisky, it remains an excellent one.
The finish is lingering, marked by malted barley too> Quite a nice flawless whisky. Nice cashew nuts hints complete this pleasant finish, Some more exuberance would have made it an exceptional whisky,,, Is this spirit a victim of its classicism?

Glen Spey Auld Distilers Collection 32 years
Age	32 years
Alcohol percentage	48.7%
Bottler	Jack Wieber
Price/litre

This is an amazing nose, which relatives all certainties,,, Very intense sherry notes.. from a whisky which spent 32 years in a bourbon cask! Well it is not sherry then. But a characteristic smell of wine, mixing the bitterness of orange skin to rich and diverse fruit fragrances. Plum, apricot. A light veil of smoke too. Anyway quite a nice nose.
The palate is specially amazing as well, Some syrupy wine, but without this sickly side which is too often the companion of that kind of wines. A mix of woody bitterness, but very discrete, and syrupy hints of a dessert wine. Not too complex, but a nice oily body, giving lots of pleasure.
The finish is lingering and warm, specially smooth, just in the same mood the mouth was.

Glen Spey Malts of Scotland cask 3656 bourbon hogshead
Age	32 years
Alcohol percentage	55,8%
Bottler	Malts of Scotland
Price/litre

Speyside

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information
about the Speyside area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please
click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow

Last update: Saturday, 06-Mar-2010 18:57:47 CET
Tue 16 03 2010, 10:47 - 88 visiteurs au cours de la dernière heure et 4 visiteurs sur le site en ce moment.
Copyright:Jean-Marie Putz (2003-2007)

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