Speyburn 10 Year

Sweet but kind of harsh. Not smooth. Not a starter whisky for new drinkers.

I added a 50ml sample of this Speyburn to my latest online order because I remembered the Bradan Orach bottle I bought back near the beginning of my scotch hobby. The Orach was $19 and I couldn't believe how smooth and relatively flavorful it was. Let's see if the 10 year is as surprising as the BO was... This offering is a light, golden color and almost immediately I get a nice, floral nose with a hint of sweet vanilla. There's almost no oak or heat detected. On the tongue, the spicy oak takes over pretty quickly and dominates the entire sip. It makes the entire experience rather one dimensional but, taking age and price point into account, this is expected and not really unwarranted. It's interesting enough to enjoy neat but I can't help but feel this one would work very well mixed with your sugary soda of choice. I've seen this bottle locally for less than $30 and I would have to recommend it over a lot of blended whiskies near that same price point. It's actually been pretty cool reviewing this one neat and when it comes time to replace a cheap bottle in my bar I'd be foolish to not consider this one for that purpose. Give it a try if you're searching for a well whisky for mixing or for friends you know wouldn't appreciate that $60+ scotch that you'd rather save for yourself. Cheers.

Prima, niet memorabel