Beinn Dubh- Black Mountain (The Speyside Distillery)

My third sample from our sixth round of distillery samples comes from the actual Speyside Distillery. Beinn Dubh translates as “black mountain” and refers to Ben Macdui, the name of the highest peak in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. This whisky is in honor of Prof. Norman Collie’s solo climb to the peak back in 1891 and his encounter with The Big Grey Man- a mystical man-beast said to roam the fog covered mountain and chase away climbers and locals alike. Shortly after his climb, locals distilled this dark whisky and drank it in hopes of warding off evil spirits. Speyside Distillery began releasing this several years ago as a single malt since the majority of their stuff is primarily for blends. Beinn Dubh is very dark and creates lots of skinny legs in the glass. It’s obviously heavily colored to create the deep, black color reminiscent of soda pop- despite being finished in port pipes. It’s bottled at 43% ABV. I’m sure it’s also chill filtered. The nose is mostly burnt sugar, licorice, musty oak and grape must. I want to say there is a bit of a cola flavor present as well, but I think it may be more subliminal due to the color. The longer it sits, the more grape aromas start to waft from the Glencairn. It still retains an old, musty smell no matter how long you let it rest. It’s not a negative, just an observation. The palate is dark and deep, with some wine notes and a strong oak cask backbone. The old and musty notes follow into the mouth and make this stuff feel well aged, even though it’s a NAS. The mouthfeel is oily and warm and that same depth creeps into every corner of your mouth and follows it down into the finish. The finish is medium in length, oily and warm while continuing the oak bitterness and dry wine feel. I can’t get over how it feels so well aged, knowing it isn’t. That’s a great job by the master blender at the distillery. This doesn’t seem like a $45 bottle from a blend-heavy distillery. Once the notes begin to fade, however, it seems like you haven’t been sipping whisky at all. It’s weird. Overall, for $45 I think it’s a great deal. It’s like a magic show- it left me scratching my head how they pulled off such a depth in feeling while keeping the malts used very young and price point rather low. I wanna give it 4 stars because of VFM, but knowing it’s a cheap whisky makes me wanna strike it a bit. I don’t know- 3.5-3.75 stars. Decent stuff. Cheers.

Stop number 94, and the final stop of round 6 of the Scottish Distillery Tour is the Speyside distiller, Speyside. Yes the distillery with enough hubris to name itself after the region in which it was built. Beinn Dubh translates to The Black Mountain and is a NAS release. For a more detailed history on the distillery see the review by @LeeEvolved He is also the one that provided this sample. Bottled at 43%, chill filtered and with enough colorant added to make this a deep dark purply-red with brown hues. The nose is super rich/sweet. Lots of vanilla and chocolate. Toffee, caramel and coffee. Plenty of sherry, some blackberries, baked apples and cherries. Anise, root beer and hints of cola. Strong notes of grape/mixed berry jelly that get stronger the more it sits. Hints of oak and damp, musty basement. Really not a bad nose, but it all feels artificial. Sticky sweet on the palate. If you want to attract ants, just pour some of this on the ground in late spring and watch them swarm. Lots of sherry, cherry cough syrup with about a cup of sugar added. Vanilla, milk chocolate, caramel and anise. Some ginger and a definite note of teriyaki. Some bitter nuts and oak. A light to medium bodied mouthfeel. Watery, but mouth coating and mouthwatering. The finish is medium long, sticky sweet with sherry, caramel and teriyaki. This is a strange one. I’d like to see what this thing looks like without all of the colorant. It’s a sherry bomb for sure, but I suspect that rather than years upon years of maturation in quality sherry seasoned oak, that they left more than a few casks 10-15% full of sherry before they filled them. I like a sweet sherry bomb the likes of Macallan or Tamdhu, but this is a little ridiculous. The nose is decent enough, but the palate really shows the youth and flaws. Quite the good value though at only $48 if you can find it. I’ll have to give this a 3.5. Looking forward to round 7 in a few weeks and enjoying the final leg of out tour. Cheers

Made it to the end of the week and the start of a long week off from work for the Thanksgiving holiday. I will start this weekend with a sample provided by @LeeEvolved for the SDT group. I must admit this is dark whisky. The color is similar to that of Birch Beer soda or Dr. Pepper. The nose is soft, sweet and rich. Toffee and milk chocolate (Heath Bar), vanilla and butterscotch. Then there are rich fruits: plumbs, figs, raisins, apples and Concord grapes, like Welches Grape Jam. Musty, mildewed cardboard drifts about amongst the aromas. A nose well suited after a Thanksgiving meal. The palate is lightweight that starts syrupy sweet and only becomes sweeter over time. Fruity sweetness works in the sugars. Plumbs and raisins with light brown sugar and cola. The sweetness turns a bit spicy with cinnamon and ginger. A bit of oak wood works its way towards the finish. A warming sensation arrives throughout. The palate is left somewhat charcoaled, dry and oaky which lingers for a good amount of time. A solid offering that strikes a fair balance between sweet and spicy. A good one to sit back after a rich, filling meal. If the palate could match the variety or of the nose, this would take it to the next level. Overall , quite enjoyable and satisfying. [86/100][Tasted: 11/16/18]

Can i call this one a "rarity"? Beinn Dubh "the Black" is one of the darkest whiskies out there, compiting only with a 10yo Loch Dhu for that title. Matured in Ruby Port casks, this single malt from The Speyside Distillery (the "Spey" one, with the tall bottles) is also called "The Flying Scotsman" as a tribute to the first Train to reach 100km per hour. Bottled at 43%abv, coca cola colour. Only 10.000 bottles were ever made. On the nose, pretty straight. Red fruits, Red lingonberries and Chocolate. Red wine. On the palate it is a light red fruit juice. Red wine, Cabernet sauvignon. Actually Salty. Church wine. Aftertaste mantained the rythm. Salty and red fruitiness. Quince. Overall, this felt exactly as a Cabernet Sauvignon cheap wine. Was it bad? Not at all. Was it good? Not really. As an experiment it can be a little collectible i guess, but completely unnecessary for any whisky lover. Boring, too straightforward and very winey, it didn't even felt like whisky. It is so light. My score for it is 69 over 100.

@LeeEvolved, where in the world did you find this... black gold... texas tea? This is the darkest whisky I think I have ever seen. Black jellybeans, dark fruit, floral properties, and honeycomb. The palate isn't like anything I've ever had. Mocha, espresso, cola, vanilla/caramel cream, concord grapes and sassafras notes follow, but a thinner mouth coat than expected. A real surprise though that it's overall better than I thought it was going to be. The short finish brings on milk chocolate and black pepper, but no fruit or herbal notes to speak of. Far from being a typical scotch, and is close to my experience of the Auchentoshan Three Wood. I think a 3.25 is fair. The theme of this dram is "Mirage Rock" by Band of Horses.

Another sample as part of our SDT team...this one courtesy of @LeeEvolved. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any whisky as dark as this. It’s black. It can be easily mistaken for Guinness. Minus that heady foam. I was actually apprehensive to drink this; that color is borderline mesmerizing/ scary. Okay...so let’s take a sip...what’s the worst that can happen? It’ll turn out to be oil, and a little oil never hurt anyone. So...the taste...it’s like cola. Like a stick of licorice dissolved in a can of soda. I’d give this a one star, or lower, if it wasn’t so damn of a curiosity. I don’t know what the hell this is, it’s not whisky, but for some strange reason, I can’t stop sipping this.