Glen Spey 12 Years Old Flora and Fauna (43%, OB, 2014)

• Category: Speyside single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: Glen Spey Distillery
• Bottling: Diageo
• ABV: 43%
• Cost: £40.99
• Score: 70/100

What they say:

The Scots Pines beside the ruins of Rothes Castle, provide an ideal habitat for the Goldcrest, Britain’s smallest bird, and overllok the Glen Spey distillery. Founded in 1885, the distillery was originally part of the Mills of Rothes. Water from the Doone Burn is used to produce this smooth, warming single malt scotch whisky. A slight sense of wood smoke on the nose is rewarded with a spicy, dry finish.

Whisky Magazine Tasting Notes
by Dave Broom
Nose: Very light and grassy to start. In time becoming more sappy, like a pine forest in the summer. Some creamy nuttiness as well.
Palate: Heathery. Very light, dry and nutty with that light sappy note returning. Well-balanced.
Finish: Soft then fades quickly.
Overall: A good, solid, bone-dry malt.

What I say:

Another cutie, who doesn’t love the wee Goldcrest? That aside this was another rarely sampled distillery for us here at The Whiskyphiles. With a £10 off voucher to burn at Royal Mile Whiskies following the Whisky Fringe 2014, I decided to go on a whim and try this ‘standard’ expression from one of our minimally sampled distilleries.

Colour:

Full gold (caramel?)

Nose:

Cereal barley malt, heather honey, golden syrup, Calvados Domfrontais (Calvados made with a strong pear component), pears poached in wine

Taste:

Smooth and silky, sweet, cereal, cornflakes, golden syrup, buttery scotch tablet, grean apple skin and Nashi pears

Finish:

Medium, toffee and oak with a slight bitterness

Would I buy it again:

Possibly not, but well worth it for the experience. This is another good/solid drinkable malt from the Flora and Fauna series which I value as a reference set for most of the Diageo distilleries whose names rarely grace the shelves of all but the most specialist whisky shops. (Mostly as they produce malt for blending). A very pleasurable but not hugely memorable Dram