Speyburn Spirit of Speyside Exclusive (2004/2024)

Speyburn Distillery post-tour masterclass, 2nd May 2024, whisky #5 Nose: Sherry, dried figs, dried dates, raisins, boiled Christmas pudding. A waft of furniture varnish and old oak. Palate: Dark fruit, sherry, orange marmalade, oak. Not a great deal emerges later or with subsequent sips – it’s a fairly straightforward sherried palate. The texture is waxy rather than creamy or oily and there was walnut-skin tannic astringency. Finish: Medium. Dark fruits, sherry, dark chocolate, oak. This was distilled in 2004 and disgorged in 2024 after being aged in one ex-sherry cask (distillery cask 215) for 19 years. 546 bottles were produced (which is about 410 litres so it must have been a sherry butt) and our tasting was from bottle 513. This bottling was a distillery-only exclusive single-cask expression for the 2024 Spirit of Speyside Festival. It was a pleasant whisky, clean and well sherried with a lovely dark, all-natural colour. On the whole I’d describe it as being better than average but, although there was nothing specifically bad about it, it lacked personality, depth and length so there was no incentive for me to purchase it – particularly for £180. “Above Average” 82/100 (3.25 stars)