Speyburn 15 Year Old – 46% ABV

Info: Matured in a combination of American and Spanish oak casks for 15 years. New at the end of 2017.
Colour: Light summer gold.
Nose: Quite sprightly and full bodied. Lashings of buttery malt with a great back note of mushed up autumn berry fruits, vanilla custard and maybe even a dollop of cream.
Palate: A nice strong oily introduction to your tongue, slightly peppery, with plenty of sweetness from the cream and the crushed berries. Just enough age to mark it as nicely middle aged with a hint of smoke from cask char.
Finish: The sweetness quickly heads towards slight peppery tannin on the finish which is quite long from the cask char hints.
Water: This dram takes a drop of water really well, it stays oily, and reduces the pepper.
Thoughts: Nice to see a 15 year old bottled at a good abv and sold at a fairly affordable price. It’s a tasty Speysider from a distillery that isn’t that well known; it’s worth a look!
Available: Master of Malt – £58.84

Thanks to Speyburn for the sample.