A new distillery to me, Glen Spey is located, predictably, on the banks of the River Spey, in the town of Rothes in the Moray area. If those sound familiar to you, you may recall distilleries named Glenrothes and Glen Moray - clearly we're in the heart of Speyside territory. Neighbor distilleries include Macallan, Craigellachie, and Glen Grant. Dating to 1878, Glen Spey was originally called "The Mill of Rothes," and was actually an oatmeal mill before it was a distillery (!).
Currently owned by Diageo, basically the entirety of their output is funneled into blends, specifically J&B. Wikipedia's entry for the distillery notes that they use purifiers, which return some of the alcohol back into the pot for distillation, and results in a lighter textured spirit. This is an independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), nicknamed "Easy, Peasy,..." - the end of that phrase is Lemon Squeezy, which is definitely encouraging.
Here are the official tasting notes:
We were busy in the kitchen making lemon confit using olive and canola oil with a pinch of salt as well as white chocolate coconut fudge and vanilla custard. Well rounded on the palate neat, a beautiful sweetness; vanilla cream, marshmallows and coconut candy while in the finish a ginger Jaffa cake trifle. With a drop of water we were transported to a meadow in summer picking berries and a gentle breeze carried aromas from nearby gorse bushes and the pine forest. The taste was like ginger turmeric lemon cream slices; so delicate, fluffy, lightly sweet and incredibly creamy, coupled with the tart and zingy lemon bottom layer it was a perfect accompaniment.
Well, I already see flavors that I enjoy here: lemon, olive oil, salt, chocolate/coconut, marshmallow. I'm particularly curious to see if I encounter notes of pine or turmeric! Pine is particularly interesting here because it comes up in other Glen Spey tasting notes in SMWS releases. Usually I only encounter pine in certain heavily peated, smoky whiskies (looking at you, Glenturret), and I'm very intrigued to see how it interplays with all the sweet notes, presuming it's actually present.
Aged 8 years in a 1st fill (ex-bourbon?) hogshead, and bottled at 59.7% ABV. Let's explore Glen Spey!
Nose: Olive oil, right off the bat. This is chock full of olive oil. I get some rock salt as well. Not so much lemon, at least not yet. Coconut is also solidly present - the white coconut flesh itself, rather than the juice. And there is a vanilla aspect, I wouldn't go so far as to say custard/flan, but maybe pie crust?
With water and some time in the glass, it grows less sweet and more savory. The salty olive oil is still firmly present, but the coconut fall away a bit. The vanilla gives way too. Lemon remains. Added to the mix is a vegetal scent that I think the official notes identify as "gorse." I also get the leanest hints of pine furniture polish (Pine-sol). I hope this expands as I get deeper in the bottle.
Mouthfeel: Medium-light in texture.
Palate: Ah.... here are the lemons. Lemon pie. More olive oil, but softly. A lot of alcohol bloom as well, as expected around ~60%. Also marshmallows! Very distinct, like when you make s'mores - that charry sugary flavor. Also ... sulfur! Distinct sulfur. In some ways, this is very reminiscent of the Linkwood 8 year bottle I just tried: citrus and sulfur together create a nice meaty, funky note.
Given a splash of water and little time to expand, sadly I get no turmeric, or even ginger... but I do get zingy lemon zest (tart and a little bitter). The marshmallow flavors dip a but when water is added, but the sulfur profile is raised.
Finish: Light oak, sniffs of an empty lemon pie tin, some white pepper (very soft), and that trailing sulfur.
Verdict: An intriguing first glance at Glen Spey. This bottle is admittedly a pretty young 8 years - I would have believed 7, 6, even 5 years old. It's not perfectly balanced... but it does have a lot of core flavors here; I was pleasantly surprised by the sulfur note, which offset the lemony sweetness and marshmallow vanillin flavors I found. I enjoyed the olive oil aspects as well. I think I would stick with this neat, despite the alcohol burn. I look forward to trying more from Glen Spey in the future!
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