LeeEvolved
Speyburn 10 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
December 29, 2016 (edited July 2, 2019)
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.
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I just grabbed a bottle of this $30 juice to fill that cheap spot in my own collection. Looking forward to a dram.
Completely off-topic (apologies Lee!) - but for those interested, some impressions from Svalbard: http://s467.photobucket.com/user/Thrain_II/media/Svalbard%202016/01%20Arctic%20adventure%20to%20Svalbard_zpsbvwatnpc.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0
Good review! It's a great value scotch, and I'd definitely take it over most of the blends in the under-$30 range. Also, now I want to go to Svalbard...it can go on my ever-expanding list of places I want to go before I die.
Agreed on all points, both yours and Slainte's. While not exceptional on any one point, this is a very balanced, very drinkable malt. I'll even go so far as to say it's the best Scotch I've had (blended or not) for under $35.
Pranay and Slainte - I spent a summer on Svalbard south and west of Longyearbyen mapping geology. I was introduced to gjetost, fiske suppe, and aquavit among other things. I buy gjetost whenever I can find it. But I've never ever seen aquavit again. Ouzo seems to be a reasonably close substitute. Leevolved- sorry for hijacking your note.
I enjoyed this dram as well. Your experience is very similar to mine. The Speyburn line provides decent quality for the price and makes this/them worthy to seek out and, as you stated, is great to share with friends wouldn't appreciate higher quality whisky.
Slainte: I'm incredibly jealous. We went to Norway on vacation last year (Oslo, Lofotan Islands, Bergen). I really wanted to do Svalbard, but with an 8 yr old and a 4 yr old, we thought it may not be possible. It's on my bucket list of places to visit
Whoopsy daisy, of course I meant 'cup' and not 'cub' - I didn't touch any polar bear cubs!
I picked up a 1l bottle of this on Svalbard, probably the most northernly place on earth you can buy liquor. Your review perfectly matches my (low) exprectations, given its very moderate price. I had a quick dram of this malt on a boat while spotting polar bears climbing the nearby glacier (incl. glacier ice in a plastic cub), and I must admit it was quite enjoyable. However, I can't tell if it was due to the polar bears or the intrinsic quality of the malt ;-)