Speyside

The Macallan 12 Year

The Macallan 12 Year

The Macallan is one of the undisputed titans of the Scotch industry. It is also one of the top sellers of Scotch in the world, close behind Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet. Though classified by recent whisky regulations as a Highland Malt, many experts (and the distillery themselves) consider it a Speyside. Being a very large and well-selling brand for almost 200 years, it is perhaps no surprise that Macallan boasts deep offerings across four distinct lines. Another record the distillery has repeatedly broken is for the most expensive bottle of whisky sold at auction. The current holder is The Macallan “M” Imperiale, sold in 2014 for $628,000.

By Adam | November 30, 2015 | Speyside | No Comments |
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Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask

Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask

One of the things Balvenie likes to do in its standard offerings besides various age statements is experiment with different cask finishes. Unlike other whiskys, who often use a cask finish for their NAS releases, Balvenie displays both age and finish. Unlike some distillers, who buy their ex-wine or spirit barrels from around the world, Balvenie takes American oak casks and chooses the West Indian rums (i.e. Cuba, but renamed to get past picky U.S. import law) that fill them. The master distiller chooses when these barrels are ready to empty and be filled with the 14 year old whisky for finishing. How does the smoothness of the base whisky mix with the rum casks?

By Adam | July 9, 2015 | Speyside | No Comments |
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Stronachie 12 Year

Stronachie 12 Year

This Scotch has a complicated history. Stronachie was a distillery near the town of Forgandenny that closed in 1928. The firm that represented the distillery in Scotland, A. D. Rattray, decided to bring the name back with a new offering in the early 2000s. The whisky that’s actually in the bottle of this current iteration, however, is from the distillery of Benrinnes. So even though the original Stronachie was a highland malt, the whisky actually in the bottle today comes from a Speyside distillery. While confusing at first, taste-testing of a rare bottle from the original distillery actually matched better to a Speyside, as the process of making whisky has changed over the centuries. So, less confusing. History and sourcing aside, however, the chief question is…how does such an echo of bygone times taste?

By Adam | February 9, 2015 | Speyside | No Comments |
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