High entertainment value with Glen Spey single malt
Glen Spey is a beautiful distillery to behold, if you are quick enough to spot it while driving on the A941 through the little village of Rothes. The distillery was founded in 1878 but despite its long history, never really caught the eye of the single malt enthusiast. Probably because the entire output disappears in the blending vat of J&B, and only a handful of official distillery releases exist. An official bottling in the Special Releases of 2010 was excellent actually, a true fruity beast, but beyond that nothing really commercially available, besides a Flora & Fauna bottling. For today, we turn to independent bottler Signatory, that keeps offering us affordable bottlings at high quality, but also some lesser known names. Glen Spey is one of the few distilleries to use a purifier on their stills, which results in a light spirit. That seems to be a signature for the J&B blend, so a logical characteristic. Let’s see if we find this in the sherry violence of the Signatory 100 proof series.
Glen Spey 2015, 9 years old, bottled at 57,1 % abv by Signatory Vintage
First things first: The popular 100 proof series by Signatory Vintage continues to showcase known and unknown distilleries, and disclosed or undisclosed ones. This is edition # 37 and this Glen Spey matured in first fill oloroso sherry butts.
Upon Sipping: Wow, I never noticed such a big hit of petrichor in my whisky! At first, I thought I was using a dirty glass, but no, it is really this Glen Spey being out of the ordinary. My wife took a sniff too and is reminded of a dirty cloth after cleaning the floor. I kind of like how freaky this is. It has a lot to offer, I must say, from cask wood to dades and plums, with in the faraway distance whiffs of raisins and spices. Only after some swirling I pick up the expected fruity character of Glen Spey. The taste is a bit more mundane after that exceptional nose. Soft on entry, but rather harsh on the exit because of the alcohol. Some sweet chocolate notes and maybe a hint of apricot, but a tad too one-dimensional. We try with water, but yes, more of the same. Chocolate and apricot, certainly some sweet mix of honey and nuts, wooded spiciness overall. With water the finish becomes much more pleasant.
Word to the Wise: A rollercoaster of a Glen Spey and certainly one of the more weird expressions in the 100 proof series. I like the goofiness very much. It does not result in the highest score, but entertainment value is high.
Score: 83 points.