Out tasting notes
83. Speyburn Clan Germany Tasting
Speyburn 18yo 46.5% Living Souls (Whiskybase ID: 287107)
Nose: The first impression is sharp. Adhesive and wood glue. Then sweetness, fruit, but the alcohol still stings. Vanilla, pear, ripe banana, plus graphite and fresh oak. Pear purée with wood dust, slightly metallic. It seems closed off. After some time in the glass, it reveals a beautiful fruity and floral side. Yellow, ripe kiwis, bananas and lots of pears play around the nose.
Mouth: Soft on the palate, creamy, oily. Pepper overlays a dry sweetness. Vanilla, pear, oak, which is very present, very dominant. Accompanied by a rusty, metallic note. Green and yellow bananas. Pears, vanilla pudding. Quite tart. Paradoxically, it becomes sharper with water. Perfumed, violets, wax. The structure flattens out more quickly, bitterness creeps in. Pepper remains the top dog.
Comments: Very oak-heavy. It needs time, air and patience. Those who drink hastily will be slowed down. A drinking brake with a wooden handle.
Speyburn 15yo 53.6% SMWS 88.33 (Whiskybase ID: 271639)
Nose: Immediately dense, closed and demanding. Caramel and sulphur, tannins, rum raisins. Sweetness is present, but it works against resistance. Rosé wine, fresh roses, red currants. Raspberry cream yoghurt flashes up, then solvent and jam, cinnamon. The alcohol stings.
Mouth: Sweet and fruity at first, then sharp, spicy and dry. Chili burns briefly, leaving behind a hint of wet tobacco. Everything is intertwined, nothing stands still.
With water, it becomes sweeter, but above all more tart. Caramel emerges, darker and more bitter.
Comments: It needs to be worked for. Not a whisky for casual evenings. Difficult, complex, contradictory. Those who persevere will be rewarded.
Speyburn 16yo 53.0% SMWS 88.34 (Whiskybase ID: 286719)
Nose: The opening is dark and slightly weathered. Blackberries from the undergrowth, freshly picked. Damp wood, moss, a hint of forest floor after rain. Then it gently shifts to sweet and sour. Wick sour cherry sweets, boiled cherry juice, slightly syrupy but never sticky. Pepper comes through early. Herbs come through, dried, slightly bitter.
Mouth: Harsh on the palate. The pepper is now more pronounced, accompanied by cherry sweets, which seem more serious than playful. The sweetness remains controlled. With water, the whisky opens up and brings hay and mint to the fore.
Comments: Not complex. But good. Sometimes that's all you need.