Speyburn 18 y.o. - 46%

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 46% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

This 46% bottling was launched in 2018 as the Speyburn 18 Years Old Anniversary Edition and a permanent addition to the range. Speyburn dedicated the first annual release to then Distillery Manager Bobby Anderson, who had joined the distillery in 2000 and had therefore been part of it for 18 years. The edition was limited to 1,500 cases, or 9,000 bottles, per year.

The single malt matured for 18 years in hand-selected American and Spanish oak casks. The interplay between the two types of oak accentuates its full, complex character, with dark chocolate, toffee, fruit and restrained cask spice. It is bottled at 46%, without chill filtration or added colouring, and comes in a gift box.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose combines sweet toffee, candied almonds and abundant tropical fruit. Caramelised apple follows before a very subtle, honeyed hint of smoke emerges.
• Palate: The whisky is full-bodied and creamy on the palate. Dark chocolate and toffee are accompanied by gentle oak spice and a hint of citrus.
• Finish: The finish is long and bittersweet, with a light hint of smoke. Overall, the whisky is not defined by a smoky character; the smoke appears merely as a subtle accent.

Distillery/Bottler:

John Hopkins founded Speyburn in 1897 in the narrow valley of the Granty Burn. Charles C. Doig designed the three-storey distillery to follow the slope of the hillside. Speyburn is the only distillery to use water from the Granty Burn and has belonged to Inver House Distillers since 1992.

Long fermentation times help shape the characteristic style even before distillation. A particularly large wash still produces a light spirit with notes of apple, citrus and flowers. Two smaller spirit stills and traditional worm-tub condensers then give it greater body and depth. The distillates are matured in former bourbon or sherry casks stored in traditional dunnage warehouses.

Facts: