Speyburn Distillery post-tour masterclass, 2nd May 2024, whisky #2 Nose: Herbal, grassy, leafy, stewed black tea, wet wood, dates, mustard and treacle. It’s a hefty and “determined” nose. Palate: The arrival is sweeter than you might expect but it turns dry in the later palate as walnut skins, dark chocolate, orange marmalade and other sweet but simultaneously bitter flavours dominate. There are vanilla, raisins and Christmas cake spices as well which balance the palate. The texture is full but surprisingly not heavy. Finish: Long. Dark fruits and oily roasted nuts with a spicy and tannic edge. Very different to the OB 10 year old which is sweet, fruity and drenched in vanilla. This expression has a grippy sherry oak finish which adds cocoa, tannin and walnut skin characteristics in addition to dark fruits. It was also greatly improved by generous dilution (in my opinion) which balanced out the dry characteristics with dark sugars. It was very popular at the tasting session but although it has lots of character and is excellently made it did not particularly appeal to me (I preferred the 10 and 18 year expressions). It was somewhat reminiscent of Glenfarclas 15 which is a good thing, but then again that whisky is my least favourite Glenfarclas. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)