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Speyside Distillery

The first distillery to be named Speyside was established in 1895 but that business was one of many to crash and burn in the early part of the 20th century. By 1911, the site was demolished and little remained to mark the distillery’s passing. Fast forward to the 1960s and a man named George Christie saw potential in an abandoned mill on the banks of the River Tromie near Kingussie. The mill dated from the 1700s but had long since ceased milling. Christie acquired the building and set out to create a new Speyside distillery.

Work to convert the mill took quite a while. Quite a long while, as it happens. It was 1990 before the first spirit flowed from the stills but even then, the project flew under the radar for all but the most dedicated of whisky lovers. In 2012, however, the Harvey family took over and began using the plant to produce whisky for their Spey brand.

The story of the Spey brand goes back to brothers, John & Robert Harvey, who established the Yoker and Dundashill distilleries in 1770 and later, in 1881, Bruichladdich in Islay. The Spey brand was created when the company chairman began selecting whiskies to be used in an annual Chairman’s Choice bottling. However, the popularity of the product waned and eventually, the whisky disappeared altogether.

In 1990, John Harvey relaunched Spey in Taiwan, using whiskies sourced from various Speyside distilleries. Then, in 2012, he took out a lease on the distillery at Tromie Mills and began to use the whisky for Spey. Plans for a new home are afoot, however. The lease on the mill is almost up and rather than renew, the owners have decided to build their own facility elsewhere, with a Glasgow-based blender apparently poised to step in and take over the Tromie distillery.

Quite what this will mean for the style of the Spey malt going forward, nobody knows, but while I can’t claim to be the biggest fan of the core range, I have had some very interesting single cask expressions over the years and if there’s one bottler I trust to find a good one, it’s Dràm Mòr.

*Full disclosure: the whisky featured in this review was sent to me free of charge. As always, I will strive to give an honest opinion on the quality of the dram and the value for money it represents.

The Whisky

This Speyside whisky has been aged for 8 years, including a finish in a first-fill Pedro Ximenez cask. It’s bottled at 55.3% ABV

Smell: I noticed an array of spices first. Then lots of cocoa powder and a wee bit of coffee. Now chocolate oranges and marzipan fruits. Some barley sugars and cola cubes. There’s malt there too, however, with a bit of honey and some fresh oak. Also vanilla and custard creams under all the sherry.

Taste: It has quite an oaky arrival – which isn’t really what you expect after the nose. There’s raisins and currants with nice oaky spice on the finish – which has decent length. Water parted the sherry a little, to let some malty, caramel notes through. A wee touch of orange zest throughout.

Thoughts: Another good sherry cask finish from Dràm Mòr. It’s like a dram of two halves: the sherry leads the way, especially on the palate. The arrival almost feels like licking the inside of an old, dry solera cask in some dusty old Spanish bodega (not that I’ve ever actually done that), but the tail end finds more juiciness and a bit of spice. It’s quite an entertaining if disjointed affair. Water also helps to add even more complexity – and better balance. Solid effort all round – especially if you like the sherry side of Scotch.

Price: £56. It’s not perfect, but it’s fun and affordable and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that combination.

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