KWM 2023 Whisky Calendar Blog Day 19 - SMOS Speyside 25 Year
Posted on December 19, 2023
by Evan
The Single Malts of Scotland brand is owned by Elixir Distillers, which itself is owned by Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh. The brothers for a long time owned The Whisky Exchange, a popular and very well-respected group of UK-based whisky shops. The Whisky Exchange was sold to Pernod Ricard in 2021. Elixir Distillers is an independent bottler with some recently realized aspirations of distilling: In 2022, the company purchased Tormore Distillery in Speyside from Pernod Ricard.
The Singh brothers and Elixir are also coming close to their long-term plan of operating their own Islay Distillery. The distillery will be called Portintruan. Groundbreaking at the distillery site, which lies aside the A846 just to the East of Port Ellen and to the west of Laphroaig, took place back in 2020 on the site in 2022, and if things go well the buildings may be completed and the distillery in operation by late 2024 or early 2025.
For now, Elixir Distillers is much more well-known as an independent bottler. Its labels include the Single Malts of Scotland, Whisky Trail, Port Askaig and Elements of Islay brands. We tasted the Elements of Islay CI14 on day 15 in this year’s 2023 KWM Whisky Calendar.
Back to the bottle in front of us. This bottling of Speyside 25-Year-Old from the Single Malts of Scotland is the oldest whisky in this year’s KWM Whisky Calendar we have gotten thus far. Which Speyside distillery does it come from though? Is it a mystery malt?
No, actually. In fact, this Speyside single malt was distilled at THE Speyside Distillery – a name that out-generics the likes of Speyburn and Glen Spey and is at least in the running for the most boring and redundant of all Scottish Distillery names.
Speyside Distillery - Exactly what people imagine a quaint, old Scottish Distillery to look like, though it was only founded in 1990.
The Speyside Distillery, which is owned by – get this – Speyside Distillers – was founded in 1990, making it fairly young as Scottish distilleries go. Its short life has been relatively tumultuous in terms of ownership and official bottlings, However, the distillery’s location and surroundings are about as idyllic and picturesque as you can find in a country known for containing an overabundance of such places. Speyside Distiller is located in Inverness-Shire, about an hour’s drive south of Inverness itself. Its nearest distillery neighbours include Dalwhinnie Distillery which is about a 30-minute drive to the Southwest, and Tomatin Distillery which is around a 45-minute drive North.
If you have had any Speyside Distillery Single Malt Scotch in the past, it may have been bottled under the name Spey, which is what its official releases are labelled as. The bottles look pretty but are just at the point of being too tall to fit on most whisky store shelves. It is infuriating and might be one of the reasons you can’t find it in many whisky shops regularly. I am basing that on personal experience, not actual statistics. What I can tell you is that as I write this, we have no Spey on KWM shelves, because the only shelves the bottles fit on are so high altitude that they can cause nose bleeds and hypoxia if you are not careful enough in your climb.
The issue with bottle height - An exact scale model showing the sizing of the Spey Tenne vs bottles of Octomore, Glenffidich and the Burj Khalifa.
That complaint has nothing to do with the 25-year-old Speyside from the Single Malts Of Scotland we are here to try right now, though, so let’s get on to that. The SMOS Marriage Speyside 25-Year-Old is a combined batch of 3 ex-Bourbon Hogsheads that were distilled in 1996. The resulting whisky has been bottled at 52.6%.
Single Malts of Scotland Marriage Speyside 25-Year-Old - 52.6%
Evan’s Tasting Note
Nose: Apple Cobbler, Cointreau, French Vanilla ice cream, lemon meringue pie, Honeycombs cereal, Marcona almonds, and a touch of dunnage and wet oak.
Palate: Assorted gummy bears, lychee, pear pie, apple strudel, an Arnold Palmer (Lemonade mixed with iced tea), shortbread cookies, and a red velvet cupcake with white chocolate buttercream frosting.
Finish: Sweet and juicy with good length. There are plenty of candied orchard fruit notes and more lychee on the fade.
Comment: Oh man, is this tasty. It is fairly soft and easygoing for 52%, and dangerously drinkable because of it.
Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Facebook & Instagram: @sagelikefool
You can find all blog posts for Kensington Wine Market’s 2023 Whisky Calendar Here
This entry was posted in Whisky, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Independent Bottler, KWM Whisky Calendar 2023
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