Drink Review : Speyburn 10 Year Old

Pretty much the only expression of Speyburn on the market until 2008. The 10 year old may now have stable mates but it still keeps its place as the easy drinking centre of the range. Speyburn continues to gather quiet momentum in the wake of updated packaging and 2012’s shock World Whisky Award win for the 25 year old.

Speyburn Scotch Review:

Caramel and Vanilla sandalwood with a hint of coconut.Full-bodied malt.Penetrating caramel and vanilla, with the traditional Speyburn heathery smoke. The coffee, coffee wood and pipe tobacco are evident but sweetened by milk chocolate.

Initial bite and burn dissipate into a full bodied malt. A slight smoke reminiscent of breakfast and the overwhelming sweetness of salted caramel. However, the magic of a Speyburn malt has ensured that there are also salty undertones emerging with the finish.

The wash is powdery but the flavour is more floral – a delicate musk with a light citrus note. The finish is sweet and elegant, the light golden peat not overpowering the flavour of soft heathery smoke.

Quite subtly smokey. The taste is sweet and fruity up front followed quickly by a turn to smoke. You can taste the spices in there as well. (Xanax) There’s an underlying coffee flavour that comes through quite well. It’s not overly spicy or chocolately, but just adds a nice touch of complexity.

Slightly peaty, but without the overpowering harshness of peated whisky. The Speyburn heather is expressing a light smoke with sweetness. A pleasant change at the end of the night, but not exactly a standout.

Another Speyside malt, this one is distilled in the good old south-east corner of Speyside. A traditional dry Speyside malt (no sugar in the wash) it comes with a little more character than others in the Speyside line-up let-us-just-say-however-you-probably-werent-asking.This Speyside malt features just a hint of more earthy peat, mainly coming through in the aftertaste, as opposed to the edge you get from the traditional Speyside malts. The flavour is also to the sweeter side, though that’s what you’d expect.A very good Speyside malt if you’re in the mood, as the malt flavour seems to fade into the background so that the sweetness and the smoke dominate.Medium body with undertones of smoke, you can actually taste the malt, not to mention the sweetness enhancing the malt. Well balanced, this is a satisfying malt to drink, though the smokiness doesn’t quite reach the intensity of a very good malt like a Portwood or Highland Park.I’m not a big fan of peatedfinn drums, but this one is very good. It’s less peaty than the Isle of Jura and the classic Mossburn, but then, I’m no Laphroaig expert. Short finish (no cigar) and very little smoke prove to be quite a surprise in this Speyside malt (it’s the malt that’s quite special).

Speyburn Scotch Review:

A nice nose of sweet heather, with a hint of evergreens and wood. A slight acidic edge along with the same spicy notes found in the others would suggest that this Speyside malt would be an ideal Christmas whisky.

Speyburn 10 Year Old Scotch whisky is traditional Speyside malt whisky matured for 10 years. Single malt whisky matured for more than 10 years is pricy and is often not only hard to find, but hard to drink. Speyburn 10 Year Old is, on the one hand, both popular and expensive, on the other hand, it’s worth every single penny.It is very hard to find a decent Speyside malt in a 10 year old whisky. If you think this whisky is good, pinch yourself to make sure this is not a dream, a figment of your imagination. I don’t know why Speyside was chosen by the artisans of the Glenkinchie distillery but in my opinion, I believe it deserves its own section on Speyside malts.

A nose of marzipan and mocha.Malty, slightly sweet and with notes of heather smoke.

There’s a lot to like about this whisky. The smoky and peaty signature of a malted Speyside is beautifully offset at the beginning by banana, raisins and sultanas. Peat flavour that lingers on the back of the tongue flows in and out and gives it its salty flavour while the banana, raisins and sultanas persist. At the mid-palate, the peat flavour comes back and the sultanas, banana, raisins and peat flavours give it a perfect balance.