Speymhor Blended Malt Whiskey 38 Years

Nose - apricot, butterscotch, fig, sultana, creme brûlée, lemon, lime, walnut, banana, honey, cinnamon, apple, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - fig, ginger, honey, apple, pear, pineapple, allspice, lemon zest, clove, bitter walnut, salted caramel, vanilla, dry oak, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with stone fruit, citrus zest, and drying oak flavors. At almost 40 years old, this is among the oldest spirits I’ve tasted. The nose is fruity, citrusy, and nutty. The source information doesn’t indicate whether a component was aged in a sherry cask, but I bet it was. The palate is nicely honeyed with a lemony ginger zing, some bitter nuttiness, and a borderline tannic, oaky finish. Overall this is solid whiskey, but those strong citrus and bitter notes rain on an otherwise tasty parade. Nonetheless, it’s always a treat being able to try something this old. Many thanks to @jonwilkinson7309 for providing the sample!

According to K and L, this is a blend of two casks that were both distilled in 1978 by two different distilleries, one in Speyside and the other in Highlands. Then the independent bottler chose the two casks and blended them together creating this blend and a total of 200 bottles. The nose starts with; I kid you not, almost like an oaked sprite soda, then tropical fruits of mango, plantains, coconut cream, caramel, and pie spices of allspice, ginger, cloves and old oak with a light burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with cinnamon apple butter, churros, cherry cordials then barrel spices of allspice, ginger, cloves, old oak with medium ethanol burn that finishes medium length and very spicy with gingerbread cookies, apple butter, cherry cordials, cloves, and old oak. This is a solid nice whisky and the two components were blended nicely together while their age didn’t bring an overpowering wood element to the whisky. It’s an easy sipper, but the spice on the mid-palate to the end feels a bit overwhelming to me and just takes away those fruits and light old oak that I would like to taste more of. Big thank you to @jonwilkinson7309 for the sample.