40 Whiskies Under $40: The Speyside 12 year old
Mike C. already filled you in on some details about the Speyside distillery, which is located near the source of the River Spey and which draws its water for distillation from the River Tromie:
The Speyside is a relatively new distillery, having been in operation for only 15 years. As such, the 12 year is their signature malt. It’s also one of only 4 distilleries in Scotland whose distillation process is completely manual – no computer automation is used in their process. They produce 86 barrels per week, and are the 3rd smallest distillery in Scotland.
I bought the “Special Poker Player’s Edition” gift pack, which comes with ten poker chips (how useful…), and a deck of cards. The bottling is the same, however, as is the price: $32.
Speyside 12 Poker Player's Gift Pack
The Speyside 12 year old
Abv: 40%
Color: brown-sugar amber
Legs: big beads, but not entirely too quick at all
Nose: there is a sense of “toasted malt,” as the bottle itself and many other reviews note, but I found a sugary sweetness with bright fruit (something like glazed pineapple) to be the predominant smell right out of a fresh bottle; it is as well a touch floral, with some wood, all of which becomes a tad perfumy with some time left out.
- A generous offer of ten whole chips…
Palate: sweet but much less so than on the nose, with a bitterness and a maltiness all in pretty good balance; prunes and sawdust over a subtle malty background, then becoming toffee-like (just as the bottle’s tasting notes predicted).
Body: medium-light, quite silky texture.
Finish: not substantial in terms of length, flavor, or feel, but there is a lingering nutty, oaky, and slightly bitter taste for a few nice seconds and then a subtle tingling of the tongue for a few more.
Overall: Subtle maltiness throughout with dollops of sweetness and bitterness here and there. At first sip this reminded me of a young Glenlivet up front; the flavor movement toward toffee and nutts then made me think of an older Highland Park. While the sweetness of the nose seemed just a bit cloying, the slightly silky texture and balance of the taste were very enjoyable. It is a bit watery, so you know you’re drinking a 40% bottle. At first the finish seemed to immediately drop off a cliff, but after some time left out it decided to show up in fine, if subtle, fashion. This is a decent drop for sure, and at around $30, its good for a party or even for a quiet dram.
Score: 8.0/10
Other opinions: These vary widely. Some commenters seem to hate this distillery, while a few reviewers like it well enough. The relative newness of the operation may account for changes over a short period in the quality or flavors present as they tinker with and standardize their procedures. For the current 12 year official bottling they seem to have hit their stride.
- Whisky-Distilleries gives it a 17/20.
- Boozebasher – check out one of the comments towards the end for some thorough disgust for this bottle.
- A few of the Whisky Mag commenters in seem to have some issues with this distillery.
- Mike found different notes than myself (the vanilla on the nose seems to be a common find among reviewers, but for me if its there it is subtle), and yet seemed to have a similar appreciation for it.
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Wow that is some serious hate in the comments. I agree that there is a lot of alcohol on the nose – and incredible amount for the ABV – but I thought this was a pretty enjoyable dram overall.
Here’s Jim Murray’s notes from the 2009 Whisky Bible:
Not exactly crossed the Rubicon, but for the first time we are seeing a malt that is not entirely spoiled either by bad distillation (though on the nose especially it carries the scars) or caramel. A malt moving slowly, and in this case oily, towards very acceptable standards.
Overall rating: 79
Like JM, I agree that the nose is rough, but he seems to think that the latest batch has something going for it. All the “other opinions” you cite that give it a bad review are well over a year old. I wonder if they all sampled a less than stellar bottling from previous distillations.
So you didn’t get any orange out of it? I’d be interested in tasting it again after so much discussion.
I checked for orange after I read your notes, and I could see where you found that; but for me the fruit up front was not so much citric (unlike, perhaps, the nose), and it was more like a sweet dried fruit. Perhaps a testament to a little underlying complexity? or to whatever I had for dinner.