The Speyside Distillery 28 Year Old 1997 Cut Your Wolf Loose Single Bourbon Hogshead Release #19 Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2025) 70cl
1 of 263 bottles produced from a single bourbon hogshead
This cask had a slightly unusual route into the wolfpack. It was purchased from a lovely lady in Australia who inherited it from her late husband, who had quietly tucked it away years ago. The whisky had spent its entire life maturing at the distillery, wedged so deep in the warehouse that getting it out turned into something of a mission. What should have been a simple pickup ended up taking nearly a year before the cask finally saw daylight again. The artwork this time comes from Codo, who delivered something effortlessly cool for a whisky that clearly wasn’t in any hurry to leave home.
TASTING NOTES
Nose: A full tropical fruit stall in a small glass. Mango sherbet, guava and passionfruit ice cream fighting for elbow room, with pink grapefruit, sweet oak and a spoonful of stewed rhubarb lurking nearby.
Palate: A tropical fruit salad put together by the Wiggles after a piss up. Mango, passionfruit and pink grapefruit everywhere, with honey and a strange little flick of mint trying to bring some order to the chaos.
Finish: Medium and cheeky. Passionfruit, honey and citrus drifting around like a tropical breeze, Speyside Is close to the equator right?
About The Speyside Distillery
The distillery, one of the most southerly of the Speyside triangle, is located close to the town of Kingussie and has been a quiet player in the world of single malt.
A small site, it has a pair of stills which were originally installed in the Lochside distillery but were cut down to size in order to fit into their new surroundings.
The whisky-making process here is taken at a relaxed pace. Ferments are long; distillation slow. The result is a light style.
Virtually unseen as a single malt – it has appeared under the Drumguish and Glentromie labels and is the liquid in the Loch Dhu ‘homage’ Cu Dubh – the distillery’s whisky is still further travelled than many of its compatriots. The mature spirit has appeared, incognito, in blends across Asia, has been launched in Mongolia, is a single malt range (called ‘Spey’) in Taiwan, and has been added to neutral spirit to produce Bhutanese whisky.
The idea of a single malt distillery came to industry legend George Christie in the 1950s. Prior to the construction of Speyside he had built the North of Scotland grain plant in Clackmannan, (some of the remaining casks are being eked out under the Scott’s Selection label owned by George’s son Ricky). It would take 30 years for his Speyside dream to become reality.
In 2013 the distillery and the firm was bought by Harvey's of Edinburgh with Taiwanese backing.
45% ABV
70cl
