I have no idea what happened here, but a 25 year old single malt from Scotland at 62.5% is a sight to behold. As in, it is something else to taste, because the ABV isn’t really visible until you set fire to it.

This rather ancient Speyburn is empty now, it took me a few years to go through it. Using it in 2 tastings and then selling some samples helped, because even though it might be a solid whisky, 62.5% is not something I drink too often.

Typical Speyburn is very malty, with a slight acidic touch and lots of not-too-sweet pastry flavors. Let’s find out if this one is similar or something completely different is happening here, like the ABV…

Sniff:
This whisky is rather funky, but different than, for example, Springbank. Old barley, moldy hay, warm oatmeal. Very barley driven, with still a lot of spirit and not too much wood. Which is surprising for a 25 year old whisky. The lack of sweetness translates into the expected light touch of acidity.

Sip:
The palate brings the heat you’d expect of this. I wonder what ABV it was barreled/casked at… I don’t think it’s a dry whisky, but because of the high ABV it does feel like that. Lots of white pepper, sawdust and oak shavings. Flour, barley, straw and hay. The funkiness from the nose is gone, though.

Swallow:
The finish still bites, especially with a bit of oxygen added. It takes a while to settle down and brings a bit of a yeasty sweetness. I know that sounds strange, but I don’t how to put it any differently.

Weird, very strong. Not bad, but just very Speyburn. Lots of barley, oatmeal, a little barfy, even?

It is an interesting whisky that is far from bad (even though I just used the word ‘barfy’). I’m not a huge fan of it, but it wasn’t too challenging to go through what I had left of the bottle.

84/100