I mentioned this whisky yesterday in my write-up of our visit to Glen Grant just shy of a month ago. It is the only thing we purchased at the distillery. Well, when I say “we”, I mean that my friend Daniel purchased this 200 ml bottle (we didn’t see any other size of bottle).  It was bottled for the 2018 iteration of the annual Spirit of Speyside festival—which took place in early May, I think. 200 ml bottles seem like a good idea for this kind of thing—not too expensive and more bottles for more people to try. As per the young man I asked about it at the distillery, it is a blend of a number of Speyside single malts, all aged at least 10 years. I’m not sure if a vatting of this kind is released every year for the festival or if they’re always 10 years old or both. I assume some of the distilleries release their own exclusives a la the Islay distilleries for Feis Ile. At any rate, it seemed like an appropriate whisky to drink at the end of our first full day in the Speyside. Did that prove to be the case? 

Spirit of Speyside Festival Bottling, 2018 (40.2%; from a friend’s 200 ml bottle)

Nose: Lemon, tart apples, dead leaves plus a metallic note. Some indistinct sweeter notes with time.

Palate: Somewhat anonymous here with the leafy and metallic notes to the fore and some orange below. Very thin texture. Some oaky spice. The fruit comes on a bit with time but mostly manifests as a somewhat generic sweetness.

Finish: Short. Nothing of note.

Comments: A little surprised that this is what the Speyside distilleries are putting together for their festival. Given how thin it was, I did not bother adding water. Not unpleasant but eminently forgettable. Daniel paid £15 for it, which seems a bit more than it’s worth.

Rating: 78 points.