Speyburn 15 Year

It’s been a while since I sat and tasted (drank, for sure, but not tasted). Amassed quite a bit of samples that I really need to work. Starting the long weekend with this sample provided by @dubz480 and one that I have been looking forward to as I like Speyburn: affordable, decent taste and quality and relatively accessible. The color is light golden yellow, similar to Golden Raisins. A fruity nose starts the journey with a mix of orchard and dark fruits. Apples and pears with plumbs, raisins, black cherries. A walnut or pecan quality exists faintly in the background. As more time passed, the nose sweetens with butterscotch and milk chocolate with a sprinkle of lemon zest. Soft and sweet. It arrives soft, spicy, sweet almost simultaneously. The softness is as silky and creamy in a medium body. Ground cinnamon and ginger provide the spiciness. The sweetness comes in the flavors of fruits: Concord grapes, applesauce, vanilla, butterscotch The finish is drying and slightly oaky with lemon oil, grape skin and a sprinkle of cocoa powder all lasting a fair length. A dram with a good aroma, subtle sweetness and spiciness that is inoffensive, enjoyable yet complex enough sip and enjoy slowly. Maybe even as a summer sipper. Thanks @dubz480 I will seek this one out. [87/100][Tasted: 5/24/19]

Speyburn Distillery post-tour masterclass, 2nd May 2024, whisky #2 Nose: Herbal, grassy, leafy, stewed black tea, wet wood, dates, mustard and treacle. It’s a hefty and “determined” nose. Palate: The arrival is sweeter than you might expect but it turns dry in the later palate as walnut skins, dark chocolate, orange marmalade and other sweet but simultaneously bitter flavours dominate. There are vanilla, raisins and Christmas cake spices as well which balance the palate. The texture is full but surprisingly not heavy. Finish: Long. Dark fruits and oily roasted nuts with a spicy and tannic edge. Very different to the OB 10 year old which is sweet, fruity and drenched in vanilla. This expression has a grippy sherry oak finish which adds cocoa, tannin and walnut skin characteristics in addition to dark fruits. It was also greatly improved by generous dilution (in my opinion) which balanced out the dry characteristics with dark sugars. It was very popular at the tasting session but although it has lots of character and is excellently made it did not particularly appeal to me (I preferred the 10 and 18 year expressions). It was somewhat reminiscent of Glenfarclas 15 which is a good thing, but then again that whisky is my least favourite Glenfarclas. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Nose: very light: sweet vanilla, delicate oak that intersects with light citrus fruits such as lemon and mandarin. Palate: very sweet first impact, honey and caramel, hint of royal jelly, cappuccino, milk chocolate, then light oak, vanilla, no citrus this time. Slightly oily texture. Final: always very sweet, long, the best part: a long sweet pleasure remains in the mouth, like having eaten a spoonful of high quality honey! I liked it very much: an always sweet whisky, which has its best part in an exceptional finish. 4.50 rating __________________________________________________________ Naso: molto leggero: vaniglia dolce, quercia delicata che si interseca con agrumi leggeri come il limone ed il mandarino. Palato: primo impatto molto dolce, miele e caramello, punta di pappa reale, cappuccino, cioccolato al latte, poi leggera quercia, vaniglia, niente agrumi stavolta. Consistenza leggermente oleosa. Finale: sempre molto dolce, lungo, la parte migliore: rimane in bocca un lungo piacere dolce, come avere mangiato un cucchiaio di miele di alta qualità! Mi è piaciuto molto: un whisky sempre dolce, che ha in un finale eccezionale la sua parte migliore. Voto 4,50

Nose: Spice, Light-Oak, Small Hints of Over-Ripe Banana, Gentle Citrus Vanilla, Generic Dried Fruits, Malt, Burnt Sugar. Palate: Cooking spices, Light Oak Tannins, Brown Sugar, Orange Citrus, Dates, Vanilla, Lingering Syrupy Body. A really wonderful dram, good price for this too considering whisky prices in the states at the moment. It opens with a balance of warm oak tannins and baking spices then transitions into a decadent array of subtle sweetness. The sweetness comes primarily from the Spanish oak, I'm uncertain if its ex sherry because it isn't giving off your typical sherry cask notes. Then again it could be a sherry I've never had before. Anyway buy the Speyburn 15 its good shit 👍.

The smell is enveloped by a strong sherried personality, with a lot of cinnamon, cloves, lemon, ripe banana, honey, vanilla. Turf in the background, with a slightly shameless alcoholic tip. Simple and all in all anonymous. And alcohol remains cheeky even on the palate, boasting from the bottom of its 46%, with the amplified herbaceous profile that accompanies the nose impressions. Ripe fruit and vanilla, apples cooked with cinnamon, honey, a pinch of citrus and an impression of chocolate. In the end, it is the cinnamon that dominates the aromas, lashed by the invasiveness of alcohol, making everything rather monotonous. Fairly short finish, of (strangely!) cinnamon, alcohol, caramel, lemon.

A complex, Single Malt Scotch Whisky by Speyburn Distillery in Speyside, Scotland aged for a minimum of 15 years in American oak & Spanish oak casks. It has an aromatic birth with hints of dark chocolate, notes of spices, vanilla, marmalade, sawdust, cacao nibs, stroopwafel dipped in coffee, citrus & raisins; while a rich & spicy life adds notes of citrus, toffee, vanilla, honeyed barley, Tunnock's Caramel Wafers, lemon meringue, smoke & leather; that led to a long & creamy death with notes of brown sugar, honeycomb, dried banana chips, caramel, apple cider, flamed orange peel & pear. June 2020 / September 2022