Tag: Speyside Whisky Page 11 of 14

Speyside is a “protected region” for Scotch Whisky distilling under UK Government legislation.According to Visit Scotland, this region includes the area between the Highlands to the west, Aberdeenshire in the east and extending north to the Cairngorms National Park. Speyside single malt whisky is single malt Scotch whiskies, distilled in Strathspey, the area around the River Spey in Moray and Badenoch and Strathspey, in northeastern Scotland.

Kininvie 17 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/06/2015

In Single Malt whisky

In October 2013, I tasted the William Grant & Sons Monkey Shoulder blended malt expression and loved it. Monkey Shoulder blended malt is a blend of three William Grant single malts. I have various expressions from Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, but I have never heard of the Kininvie distillery.

Lucky for me, on one of John’s business trips to London, he found the Kininvie 17 year old single malt Scotch whisky at Heathrow Airport Duty-Free. Of course, he grabbed it for me. Kininvie is a distillery in Dufftown, which produces single malt Scotch whisky.

The whisky from this distillery is mainly used in William Grant blended whisky brands. Notably their Grants and Clan Macgregor releases. The Kininvie Distillery, one of the youngest distilleries in Scotland, began production on 4 July 1990.

Kininvie Distillery is built close to The Balvenie distillery, and they share some equipment. Some sources argue Kininvie is not a proper distillery as most of the equipment is owned by Balvenie and that Kininvie is just an extension of Balvenie.

Other people don’t agree and argue that they share the Balvenie mill. Regardless of this, getting this bottle to complete our collection is great. Kininvie itself stopped operating in late 2010.

The Kininvie 17 year old whisky is matured in 80% American oak and 20% Sherry casks.

Related Article: Glenmorangie Spios whisky

Kininvie 17 year old Whisky Review

It is (only) a 350 ml bottle.

ABV: 42,6%

COLOUR: A light golden coloured. It has a sort of pale gold colour and is quite oily.

NOSE: Brings sweet sherry, candied fruit and malty sweetness. There are notes of toffee, fresh-cut flowers and apples. It has a rich and complex nose. Adding water enhances the floral notes.

PALATE: On the palate, the Kininvie whisky is spicier than expected. The sweetness suggested by the nose is a lot less pronounced. After the sweet nose, I was expecting quite a sweet whisky. There are notes of wood, fresh fruit and malt.

The toffee and caramel sweetness drifts past in the background. It is a wonderfully smooth and rich whisky. Chewy and full-bodied.

FINISH: Long and lingering. It ends in notes of creamy, spicy malt.

RATING: EXCELLENT

A splendid dram! It is easy to drink, complex and smooth. If only the bottle were bigger. I would love to taste more from this distillery.

Looking around, I see that there is a Kininvie 25 year old single malt at The Whisky Exchange, and it sounds amazing. However, at £ 399 for a 35cl bottle, it might be slightly out of my price range.

Also Read: Littlemill 25 yo whisky

Glenfiddich Rich Oak Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 05/25/2015

In Single Malt whisky

Today I look at a release from Speyside, the Glenfiddich Rich Oak 14 yo single malt Scotch whisky. The Glenfiddich distillery is one of my favourite distilleries, and I have tasted many of their expressions. I loved the Glenfiddich 18 yo as a wonderful easy drinking dram and have tried the Glenfiddich Age of Discovery Madeira Cask.

Located in Dufftown in the Speyside region of Scotland, the Glenfiddich distillery was founded in 1886. Glenfiddich, together with Kininvie and Balvenie, forms part of the William Grant-owned whisky stable and sit in relative proximity to each other.

The triangular-shaped Glenfiddich has become one of the world’s most recognised whisky bottle shapes. It has been a Glenfiddich feature since 1957. The William Grant company remains independent and family-owned. The Glenfiddich Rick Oak is quite a recent release. It came out during the Spring of 2010. It was aged for 14 years in ex-bourbon casks.

Then followed two separate finishes of 12 weeks in new Spanish oak and 6 weeks in new American oak before bottling. According to Glenfiddich, the American oak adds spice, vanilla and fruit. The Spanish oak brings elegant fruit, spice and complexity.

Related Article:Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky

Glenfiddich Rich Oak Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Dark rich gold. There are long oily fingers in the glass.

NOSE: Sultanas and juicy ‘Moskonfyt” (grape must jelly) mixed with honey sweetness. There is an abundance of oak, spice and barley. The oak, however, is wonderfully balanced with fruity sweetness and not overwhelming.

PALATE: Without water, the whisky is sweet and spicy with hints of bubblegum and Muscadel wine. Adding water releases more pepper heat but also cinnamon and muscovado sugars. The fruitiness from the nose is still around in wafts of berries and grapes. The Glenfiddich Rich Oak is an easy-drinking smooth, nicely balanced dram.

FINISH: Long, memorable and lingers for a while. It ends in notes of wood, toasted nuts and bits of fruit again. A very drinkable whisky.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It has become one of my favourite Glenfiddich drams to relax with. It has a wonderful fruity character and will pair well with cheese. While the Glenfiddich 12 year old is the perfect single malt for a newbie, this Glenfiddich Rich Oak will be the whisky that will take them the next step along the road to whisky enjoyment. This release has made it onto my Top 5 Single Malt whiskies under R500 for 2014 list.

Also Read: Balblair 15 yo whisky

Tomintoul 10 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 04/27/2015

In Single Malt whisky

I am trying a Tomintoul 10 year old single malt Scotch whisky today. Tomintoul, meaning “Hillock of the Barn” is a village in the Speyside area of Scotland. At the height of 350m (1165 feet), it is one of Scotland’s highest villages. The village was laid out on a grid pattern by the 4th Duke of Gordon in 1775.

Whisky has always been a part of village life and culture. The hills that surround Tomintoul are so secluded; they were the perfect place for illicit distilling.

In 1797 already, the local minister wrote.

“Tomintoul is inhabited by 37 families, without any industry. All of them sell whisky, and all of them drink it. When disengaged from this business, the women spin yarn, kiss their inamoratos or dance to the discordant sounds of an old fiddle”.

The area surrounding Tomintoul is of astounding natural beauty. There is an array of flora and fauna specific to the region. Many of Scotland’s most endangered species are protected in the wilderness there.

Related Article: Tamdhu 10 yo whisky

The distillery itself is a relatively recent addition to the region. Hay & Macleod and W & S Strong built Tomintoul in 1964. Currently, under Angus Dundee ownership, Tomintoul whisky distillery was acquired from Whyte and Mackay in 2000. It draws is water from the Ballantruan Spring.

The purity of the spring, and the clean air at such an altitude contribute to the smooth, easy-drinking single malt of Tomintoul; indeed, they market their Scotch as ‘the gentle dram’. The Distillery Manager, Robert Fleming, is a fourth-generation distiller, born and bred on the Glenlivet Estate.

The Tomintoul 10 year old whisky is aged in ex-bourbon casks.

Tomintoul 10 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: A reddish copper colour in the bottle. In the glass, it is a deep gold with slowly forming tears.

NOSE: Sweet with condensed milk and oranges. There are hints of Christmas pudding and oak. After adding some water, the oak is enhanced, and some barley notes appear. The nose hints at a gentle dram.

PALATE: Without water, the palate is spicy with notes of pepper, nutmeg and oak. A few sweet notes are floating in the background. After adding water to the Tomintoul, the orange, ‘citrusy’ notes overwhelm everything. It drowns out all the gentle oak, condensed milk and spice notes.

FINISH: Not as long as I had hoped for. It ends in, not surprisingly, notes of marmalade and a bit of spice.

RATING: GOOD

It has a medium body and has no alcohol bite. I loved the Tomintoul 16 year old whisky that I tasted during October 2014. Sadly this Tomintoul 10 year old did not deliver taste and flavour as I have hoped. After tasting the 16 year old, I was expecting a bit more from this Speyside dram.

Also Read: Benromach 10 yo whisky

Balvenie Portwood Edition Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 04/20/2015

In Single Malt whisky

One of the first bottles that started my whisky collection all those years ago was the Balvenie Portwood 1993 Vintage single malt Scotch whisky. It started not only my collection but also my love affair with the Balvenie distillery.

In the past, I often blogged about one of my favourite distilleries and have 12 different Balvenie releases.I have captured my tasting notes on the Balvenie Single Barrel whisky here.

The Balvenie Portwood is one of our favourite releases of this distillery. The Balvenie distillery is located in Speyside, Scotland and has been around since 1892.

Related Article: The Balvenie Peated Cask whisky

The distillery was founded by William Grant, who learnt his trade at Mortlach distillery. The Balvenie lies just below the Glenfiddich distillery, sharing its water source, the Robbie Dhu springs. Despite sharing the water, the Balvenie character is very different from Glenfiddich‘s more nutty, fruitier taste.

The 1993 Balvenie Portwood single malt expression has sadly been retired, and Balvenie only releases the Balvenie Portwood 21 yo as part of their core range. To create this single malt, the whisky was matured in traditional oak casks and then transferred for a last period of maturation to port pipes.

Balvenie Portwood 1993 Edition Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: A light amber. It is a medium oily spirit in the glass.

NOSE: Soft juicy raisins, honey, vanilla and spice. In the background, there is oak and butterscotch. Wafts of nuts float around, intermingling with the sweetness.

PALATE: Superb. The Balvenie Portwood has a changing dynamic palate. It is initially sweet and spicy but builds with oak, warming the soul. This is the perfect whisky to enjoy in winter. It is smooth with a pepper and cinnamon bite. All of this without water.

The addition of water took away some of the sweetness and enhanced the wood. Bits of creamy honey and winter fruit floated in the background. The Portwood is a medium-bodied whisky. It is nice and complex.

FINISH: The finish warms the soul for a long time. The finish ends in notes of leather and nuts.

RATING: EXCELLENT

If you can get your hands on a bottle, grab it! You will not be disappointed. I also tried this Balvenie Portwood whisky with a white rock cheese pairing, and it made a great pairing. The Portwood brings out the fruitiness of the cheese. The White Rock cheese enriches the port in the whisky and almost makes the whisky sweeter. One of my favourite distilleries.

Also read: The Balvenie Roasted Malt whisky

Longmorn 15 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 03/09/2015

In Single Malt whisky

One of the great joys of collecting whisky is obtaining a limited release bottle that is no longer in production. That is the case with today’s whisky, The Longmorn 15 year old single malt Scotch whisky. John Duff, Charles Shirres and George Thomson founded the Longmorn Distillery Company in 1893.

He also founded the Glenlossie distillery two decades earlier. After some time at Glenlossie, Duff moved to South Africa to start a distillery in Transvaal. Duff invested large sums of money there, but the South African president Paul Kruger wasn’t supportive of his plans.

At some point, he decided the circumstances in South Africa were not suitable. He left for the USA to open a distillery there. Soon Duff found that he was not entirely welcome either, and he failed again. He returned to Scotland, and the Longmorn distillery started production in December 1894.

A short while later, Duff built the Benriach Distillery next to Longmorn, but the Pattison Crisis affected both. Longmorn changed hands various times, and it is currently part of the Chivas Brothers empire now owned by Pernod Ricard.

Following the acquisition, Longmorn got a facelift. In 2007 Longmorn revamped the range, and the 15 year old release was replaced by a 16 year old whisky. Today Longmorn distillery no longer offer the 15 year old whisky.

The Longmorn 15 year old single malt whisky had been very highly rated, with the Whisky Bible awarding it a 93. It was thus with great anticipation that I opened the bottle.

Related Article: Glenfarclas 17 yo whisky

Longmorn 15 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Highland

ABV: 45%

COLOUR: A polished copper colour with hints of orange.

NOSE: Brings malty sherry sweetness, but there is a surprising amount of alcohol bite to the nose. The alcohol vapour is overwhelming some of the Longmorn nosing notes.

After standing for a while, some of the vanilla and florals come through, but the nose is very subtle and individual notes are hard to pick up. There are some hints of apricot in the background.

PALATE: Without any water, the palate has loads of malt, spice and wood. There is a bit of Demerara sugar in the background, but it is not as sweet as we expected. After adding some water to the Longmorn, the spice is still overwhelming.

here are notes of black pepper and ginger mixed with a citrus bitterness. It is quite an oily whisky with a medium mouthfeel. Unfortunately, the whole mouth experience is very spicy.

FINISH: Surprisingly short and end in notes of spice and bitter orange peel.

RATING: GOOD

After reading all the reviews, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting a bold, flavourful dram. Based on some internet feedback, this 15 year old Longmorn whisky is better than the new 16 yo release.

It is safe to say that I would not be rushing out to add the Longmorn 16 year old to my collection in a hurry. With all the spiciness, it might be a good whisky to pair with cheese. Any thoughts on this older Longmorn release?

Also Read: Glen Scotia 15 yo whisky