Speyburn Distillery: history and 1978 vintage tasting
We dive into the whisky history book to shine a light on Speyburn Distillery. By the time you read this, I will have just spent a few nights in Speyside, with my closest neighbour, indeed this distillery, just alongside the same road, but still a hard 40 minute walk. As it turns out, my plans were a bit thwarted by rain (welcome to Scotland), so I actually did a tour at the distillery. I will make a special entry for Tom’s Dram Diary later, because there is lots to tell, but in this blog I will highlight the history a little and review an old vintage.
The distillery was made up out of stones from the Spey River, as legend has it, by John Hokpins. This happened in 1897, a year that might be recognised by many as the last great boom before the bust. The giant company DCL (forebearer of Diageo) bought Speyburn already in 1927, even though management would not transfer to the subsidiary SMD until 1962. Speyburn has the honour to be the first distillery that built drum maltings on site, right from the start, but those were closed in 1968.
Going through the old books, it seems snow struck as heavily at Speyburn as it did at Glenfiddich in the year it was built. The stills were running during Christmas 1897, but doors and windows were not even fitted in. The employees had to dress up very warm to make whisky at Speyburn, as that legendary snowstorm swept the valleys. It is said that only one cask was filled in 1897. This was the dearest wish of John Hopkins, to finish the distillery in the year of the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. This succeeded!
Inver House is now the owner of what could be one of the most beautiful distilleries in Scotland. The true Victorian style stands out in the Speyside landscape, if you manage to spot it, that is. Speyburn uses wormtubs for cooling down the liquid in the stills, but only the spirit stills are attached. The wash still utilizes a shell and tube condenser. Nowadays, Speyburn is one of the big distilleries on Speyside, churning out 4.6 million litres per annum.
Speyburn 21 year old – vintage 1978, bottled at 58,8 % abv
First things first: Cask # 2867 was filled in 1978 and put into bottles in 1999.
Upon Sipping: I was quite in love with this old label Speyburn, as the logo had a jumping salmon in it. A tribute to the Spey River, so close by. The water for the malt comes from the Granty Burn however. The distillate must be as clean as a whistle, because when we stick our nose in the glass, it is the cask that speaks. There is no doubt about the previous content for this, most glorious sherry. Such a scrumptious promise, but first red fruit, fierce tobacco, maybe already rolled into a cigar and put aflame. Also impressions of an old clothes coffin in the attic of your grandmother. This thing has not been opened for years!
After some breathing a hint of sulphur joins the proceedings. Let us quickly take a sip! Of course, this is a beastly whisky. Fairly dry and with notes of leather on the tongue. Harder than I expected, and an aggressive bite. Just dilute it a bit. That makes things a lot more accessible. Nicely sweet but with a complex bitter underlying note of chocolate and coffee. Also a bit meaty with a hint of balsamic. The nose improves even more, resembling the woodlands around the distillery like nothing else.
Word to the Wise: Such a classic sherried whisky, on top of this being a very generous Speyside whisky that has the character trait that it allows casks to shine. This is no exception. The age is perfect, the years in the bottle tamed it.
Score: 91 points.