Speyburn: 10 Year (Scottish highland single malt whisky: 10 Year: 40% ABV)
Visual: Light grain gold.
Viscosity: Quite slow but thick streaks.
Nose: Heather. Floral. Rose wine. Pencil shavings. Cake sponge. With water cereal grains.
Body: Soft. Vanilla. Cake sponge. Heather. Earthy touch. Cereal grains. Husked grains. Custard. Lime sorbet. Even softer with water, more cake and now a cream center. Maybe a touch of jam with it.
Finish: Slightly earthy touch. Clean alcohol touch. Malt chocolate. Heather. Orange crème. Oddly slightly bigger with water.
Conclusion: Is it actually ironic when a whisky named “Burn” is actually really soft or is it just Alanis Morissette Ironic?
Either way this is gently sweet, with a slight earthy and fields like touch. Mildly rougher on the way out than when it comes in, but not massively so.
It is quite a neutral whisky, slight cake sponge, vanilla and such, with a bit of cereal like character coming out with water. It has a kind of cereal grain texture almost as it goes along the tongue, though never a roughness. It is a pleasant whisky, but not one I overly remember when I am done drinking it. There is a certain element of rustic charm, of fields and earth, but they are at the very edge against the sweetness.
Again it is one of those whiskies that I feel is well designed for people who aren’t me. It is a whisky of gentle days and long time sipping, refilling the glass over and over, as you watch the day while away. To be enjoyed by the session, not by the measure.
For my taste it feels like the base of a whisky, rather than a full whisky itself. It is the starting point you add elements to. It does however nicely encapsulate that whisky character in a smooth and easy going way.
So a gentle whisky, and not badly made, however it doesn’t fall under I style I overly appreciate, so I do not feel qualified to say if fans of softer whisky will enjoy it. For me it is a moment spent, not painfully, but not memorably either.
Background: So, my attempt to try a whisky from every active distillery in Scotland continues. Now with Speyburn. Technically I had tried them before at a few whisky festivals, but they tended to be quite late on in the proceedings, so probably didn’t show them in the best light. This was picked up as part of a three pack in Independent Spirit. I drank this while listening to some of the “Useless Trinkets” album from The Eels. I had seen the Eels live a few weeks back and was enjoying this B sides and oddities album.
