Glen Spey is one of the most obscure distilleries of Scotland, even though it is located right in the middle of Speyside. The whisky from this distillery was never intended to be used for anything else besides blending. There are almost no official bottlings, and you don’t often see an independent bottling either. The guys from Whiskybase released this 25yo Glen Spey somewhere last year as part of their Archives-label.
Glen Spey 1988/2014 (47,3%, Archives, C#356079)
Nose: Lots of citrus and grapefruit, accompanied by oak and vanilla. Also some sweet melon, but then it gets more grassier, wet hay. Some spices appear after a while with cumin and cinnamon. A very fresh nose.
Taste: More vanilla and oak, with some coconut as well. Fairly dry and bitter with some added citrus, orange and mandarine. Tastes like you’d expect after that fresh nose, except for maybe the bitterness.
Finish: Medium in length with some oakiness, nutmeg, citrus. Slightly bitter.
Rating: 86
A nicely crafted whisky, very consistent without any faults. That also makes it a bit boring. I can see why this is a whisky used for blending. Still available for 85 euro, which I think is a very fair price for a 25yo whisky.