Speyside 21 Years Old 1993 Distiller’s Art (48%, Langside, Sherry Butt, 150 Bottles, 2015)

• Category: Speyside single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: The Speyside Distillery
• Bottling: Langside – Distiller’s Art (Hunter Laing & Co.)
• ABV: 48%
• Cost: £84.56
• Score: 89/100

What they say:

A Distiller’s Art bottling of Speyside single malt Scotch whisky, matured in a single Sherry butt for 21 years. The Speyside distillery filled said Sherry butt in October 1993 and it was bottled by Langside in 2015. 150 bottles were produced without chill filtration or artificial colour.

What I say:

Bottled by Hunter Laing and Co originally for Europe (Non-UK) release, the Distiller’s Art range recently found UK release via online retailers and was received with aplomb. Due to this and other extraneous factors it seems feasible that Hunter Laing have decided not to restrict this to outside the UK and so it was a pleasant surprise to find this bottle on stand at the Edinburgh Whisky Stramash 2015. Having recently noticed this exact bottling online I jumped at the chance to try it out.

Colour:

Rich russet amber (12/20) numerous small droplet tears leave medium legs

Nose:

Strawberries and cream, raspberry, blackcurrant, cherry, fruity, spiced gingerbread, leibkuchen, walnut, chestnut, nutmeg and cinnamon, well-worn leather, musty dunnage warehouses and old oak wood.

Taste:

Rich, toffee and caramel, butterscotch fudge, honey, chocolate, malty cereal barley, figs, molasses, raisins, walnuts, chestnuts, almond, hazelnut (nutty!), dries to cinnamon and nutmeg powdered spice

Finish:

Long, drying and tannic, cocoa and cinnamon latte coffee

Overall:

Just beautiful, very fruity on the nose but more malty and nutty on the palate. I’m guessing Oloroso sherry cask but who cares what it was matured in – this is good!