The final sample of the Blind Tasting Competition. It has been a fun ride with a few highs and many shameful lows. There have been quite a few whiskies for which I scored 0 points. (including this one). Many whiskies were okay, and some were delicious. Apart from the Ben Nevis there were none disgusting.

If the guys who run the competition are reading this: I’m in for next year! One of the most fun things to do during December!

Sniff:

Speyburn – Gordon & MacPhail

Light and floral with quite some wood influence. The flowery notes with grass and straw are most the dominant. Heather flowers. There’s a hint of white pepper and I get more vanilla blossom than vanilla.

Sip:
More spicy than I expected with heaps of white pepper. The woodiness makes it a bit sharp and again there’s heather, straw, grass. After a bit it gets very gentle. Very gentle in a puppy kind of way.

Swallow:
The finish is long and rather flavourful. Dried flowers and grass with some lemongrass as well.

I wanted to go for a Linlithgow/St. Magdalene because of the (I thought) obvious Lowlands notes. Unfortunately, that one was not on the list, so out went my guess. I went for a random other Lowlander that I thought was possible. I put in Ladyburn and picked a Rare Ayrshire cask by Signatory. Boy was I wrong.

It turned out to be a 22 year old Speyburn bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in that series that’s only available in the shop in Elgin. So no points for ABV, region or distillery, neither on age. 0 points. Bummer.

Oh, and this is not a bottle I would purchase. Many guys in the competition really liked it but it’s not my cup of tea.