Review | Speyburn 18 years old

This 18 years old single malt form part of the core range from the Speyside distillery of Speyburn. It sits the no age statement Bradan Orach, plus 10 years old and 15 years old in the range. There are also three travel retail exclusives currently available - Hopkins Reserve, a higher strength version of the 10 years old and 16 years old. The Speyburn 18 years old has seen spirit matured for the full term in either American oak ex-bourbon or Spanish oak ex-sherry casks, which are then married together. It was first released to the core range in 2018.

Inbox / The Week's Whisky News (July 21, 2023)

Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information. 

Allotment Drams - Speyburn Bradan Orach & Glendronach 15 years old Revival

 

We have a couple more episodes of our Allotment Dram series for you. Firstly watch as Matt records the 50th episode (we could not have believed that the series would be so popular when we thought of it during lockdown six months ago ...) and talks about the Speyburn Bradan Orach, an entry level no age statement Speyside single malt.

 

Then on his next visit he discusses the sherry cask classic Glendronach 15 years old Revival, a perfect dram for an Autumnal October afternoon. Watch to find out his thoughts and tasting notes on both whiskies. We hope that you enjoy the videos.

 

To keep up-to-date with our videos or to subscribe to our YouTube channel - click here.

#AllotmentDram

 

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (September 15, 2017)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

The Wood Makes The Whisky - The Examples

Last Autumn, the leading Scottish independent bottling company of Gordon & MacPhail launched a new campaign to show the importance of casks in the whisky maturation process - The Wood Makes The Whisky. It highlights the most important part of their business and is supported by a dedicated website and a selected number of whiskies, which have been bottled to demonstrate the various sections within the campaign.

In Part One of this blog post, we looked at the ideas and concepts behind the campaign.  In this part we sample some of the whiskies that Gordon & MacPhail have released to demonstrate the various points within the campaign.  These include combinations of different ages, styles, cask wood types and cask sizes to show how all can effect a whisky.

The Speyburn Clan Cask pub quiz - Results

Last week we set you a challenge.  Many of you responded to the challenge.  The prize was a bottle of the rare Speyburn 1975 Clan Cask which had been kindly donated by the guys at Inver House Distillers to help celebrate Whisky For Everyone's 5th birthday.  To win a £230 bottle of whisky required some work and to this end, we devised the Speyburn Clan Cask pub quiz.  The quiz consisted of three rounds which ran over three days - one on general knowledge, one multiple choice and one picture quiz round.  All the answers were linked to Speyburn.

The Speyburn Clan Cask pub quiz - Round Three

A couple of days ago, we kicked off our latest competition which we are delighted to be running in conjunction with Inverhouse Distillers. They have kindly donated the prize of a bottle of their rare Speyburn 1975 Clan Cask to help us celebrate the fifth birthday of Whisky For Everyone. This is an expensive bottle (£230) so you have to do a bit of work for the chance to win this exclusive single malt. To this end, we have created the 'Speyburn Clan Cask pub quiz'.

The Speyburn Clan Cask pub quiz - Round Two

Yesterday, we kicked off our latest competition which we are delighted to be running in conjunction with Inverhouse Distillers.  They have kindly donated the prize of a bottle of their rare Speyburn 1975 Clan Cask to help us celebrate the fifth birthday of Whisky For Everyone. This is an expensive bottle (£230) so you have to do a bit of work for the chance to win this exclusive single malt.  To this end, we have created the 'Speyburn Clan Cask pub quiz'.

The Speyburn Clan Cask pub quiz - Round One

A couple of weeks ago, we at Whisky For Everyone celebrated our fifth birthday (more to come on that shortly, by the way).  In the latest part of our celebrations, we are delighted to be teaming up with Inverhouse Distillers for a competition - we have a bottle of the very limited Speyburn Clan Cask to give to one lucky reader. The Clan Cask was distilled in 1975 and is one of the oldest expressions of Speyburn ever released.

Inbox - March 15, 2013

Welcome to this week's Inbox.  For those that have recently discovered us, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Inbox - November 2, 2012

Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information.  Here is the news that has attracted our attention this week ...

The Clan Speyburn & The Clan Cask

The Speyburn distillery have just launched a new members club for fans of its single malt brands - The Clan Speyburn.  The club has its own members area on the new Speyburn website and membership is free.  You can sign up via the same website ... oooh, and it's free to join! 

Benefits of membership include a welcome pack including a Clan Speyburn pin badge complete with the brand's salmon motif (- we just received our pack and it looks pretty good), a regular newsletter about all things Speyburn and special offers including exclusive Speyburn bottlings for Clan Speyburn members.

We were delighted to receive a sneak preview of the first such bottling in the post recently and have included our tasting notes below.  The Clan Cask was distilled in 1975 and is one of the oldest expressions of Speyburn ever released.  The whisky is from a single specially selected ex-Pedro Ximinez sherry cask.  It will be bottled at the natural cask strength of 55.8% ABV and will be available exclusively to members in the late Summer.  Details of the number of bottles and the price have yet to be released.

The Speyburn distillery is located in the town of Rothes, in the heart of the Speyside whisky region of Scotland.  It was founded in 1897 by two brothers, John and Edward Hopkin, and their cousin Edward Broughton.  The current annual production capacity is two million litres and the single malt range is small.  Speyburn whisky is particularly popular in the America market and is growing in others such as the UK and Europe.

The core range contains a 10 years old (pictured) and the youthful Bradan Orach (which translates as 'golden salmon' from Gaelic), and is starting to pick up a good collection of awards from whisky shows and competitions around the world.  Speyburn is one of the five Scottish distilleries owned by Inver House Distillers, who took control in 1991.  They are now part of the larger Thai Bev Group, which has other brands such as Chang Beer.

________

Our tasting notes - The Clan Cask
The colour is a dark golden amber and the nose is rich and full of lovely aromas - burnt caramel, brown sugar, dark chocolate, coffee, golden syrup and plenty of dry wood spices (think especially of cinnamon and nutmeg).  Underneath are further developing notes of dark dried fruits - imagine prunes, figs, dates and raisins, plus a hint of dried orange peel.

On the palate, this feels rich, thick and spicy.  It coats the inside of the mouth wonderfully and there is an immediate battle between the sweeter notes and the spicier ones.  The sweeter notes include distinct notes of butterscotch and maple syrup, while the spicier notes counteract these and add a lovely dryness - think of the cinnamon and nutmeg again, plus hints of clove and sandalwood.  Depth and complexity is added with an array of further notes including orange oil (or possibly marmalade), burnt caramel, bitter chocolate and the dark dried fruits from the nose.  The prunes are particularly prominent towards the end.

The finish is long and particularly drying and spicy after a sugary hit to begin with.  The bitter chocolate and dark dried fruits combine with intense and gripping notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, along with some delicious spiced orange.

Inbox - April 13, 2012 (Part 1)

Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece that we receive. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Within Inbox we write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information.

This week is a little different, as Inbox is split in to two parts - the second part will appear over the weekend.  This is due to Matt and Karen having been away to Australia and returning to a large amount of emails about all manner of whisky related things.  Here is the first part of what they discovered ...

____

AnCnoc - Something is coming soon ...
One of the more surreal emails that we received was from the guys at AnCnoc. The up-and-coming whisky brand, which is made at the Highland distillery of Knockdhu, has released a short video alluding to a new project which is just around the corner.  It is meant to whet your appetite and we will let you know as soon as we know what it is all about.  For now, the video is below ... any guesses, please leave a comment below.

Bell's - Jubilee Decanter announced
Within this two part edition of Inbox, you will read about a number of whiskies being released to coincide with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June. These represent just a few of the plethora of such releases associated with the event.  The Bell's brand has a strong tradition of releasing such limited edition decanters for Royal occasions, as well as  for each Christmas.

The Diamond Jubilee Decanter has been specially designed and shows a change in style and colour from previous decanter releases.  This edition of Bell's has a heavy bias towards the single malts from Blair Athol and Caol Ila in the blend. It is available exclusively to the UK market and will retail for 85.  Numerous specialist whisky retailers in the UK are currently taking pre-orders.

Chivas - Cannes Film Festival
About this time last year, we reported on the third year of sponsorship of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival by the Chivas Regal whisky brand.

To celebrate the continued association, the brand has announced an extension to the sponsorship until at least 2014.  This will also see Chivas Regal continue to support the FilmAid International charity.  The brand will host various events in the French town during the Festival, which runs from 16-27 May. James Slack, Global Brand Director for Chivas Regal says, “We are delighted to continue our support as official partner of the Cannes Film Festival. Like Cannes, Chivas Regal is synonymous with discerning style, luxury and legend, which makes this partnership a perfect one".

Famous Grouse - Jubilee special
The biggest selling blended whisky in the UK is launching a limited edition commemorative version in order to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The Famous Jubilee is a new take on the classic Famous Grouse blend that has been specially constructed by the Master Blender of the Edrington Group (the brand's owners), Gordon Motion. It will be available in the UK only, exclusively to the Waitrose supermarket chain, and will cost £24.99.

The brand is also issuing a revised Jubilee package box for the regular Famous Grouse, which will be available in the supermarket chain of Sainsbury's for the Jubilee period.

Speyburn - New packaging and club
The Speyside distillery of Speyburn have announced a new set of packaging for their single malt range.  The brand, which is owned by Inver House Distillers, has gone for a fresher and more contemporary look with the new packaging, which includes a new bottle, label and tube.  This will initially be applied to the two most popular malts in the range - the Brandan Orach and the 10 years old (pictured, left) - with the aim to increase brand exposure in retail outlets.

The brand has also just opened a new members area, called Clan Speyburn, on its newly refurbished website.  When you sign up you will receive a welcome pack, receive a regular newsletter and be able to enjoy special offers which include limited edition bottlings just for club members.  To sign up - click here.

Tullamore Dew - New distillery
William Grant & Sons, the owners of the Tullamore Dew whiskey brand, have announced plans to construct and open a new distillery in the brand's spiritual hometown of Tullamore, County Offaly. Tullamore Dew is currently the second biggest selling Irish whiskey brand behind Jameson, and the new pot still facility is to help maintain the current level of growth and demand for the product, which is growing by 15% per annum.

The new distillery will bring whiskey production back to the town for the first time since 1954, when the original Tullamore distillery closed.  William Grant is investing €35 million in the project and will created 100 temporary and 25 permanent jobs in the town.  The building work is estimated to take two years and the facility will incorporate an environmentally efficient pot still distillery and a visitor centre.

Whisky Round Table - April 2012
The latest sitting of the newly re-vamped Whisky Round Table is now available for you to read.  The April edition is hosted by one of the original members of the group - Gal Granov of the excellent and informative Whisky Israel blog.

Gal set an interesting question about whether the procedure of maturing casks in two or more locations actually benefited the whisky or whether it was simplay a PR stunt.  Read the answers of the twelve Whisky Knights, including us, by clicking here.

Have just tried ... Speyburn 10 years old

Speyburn distillery is found in Speyside. The distillery is not that well known in the UK but is one of the best selling whiskies in the USA. It is owned by a company called Inver House Distillers, who in turn belong to a parent company called Thai Beverages PLC (they are well known for the Chang beer brand). Inver House market Speyburn as a 'value for money' whisky and the core range from the distillery is small (only this 10 years old and a 25 years old). The nose is sweet and fruity (fresh apples and oranges), with some caramel and honey. There is also some spirit vapour that comes to the front, which isn't the most pleasant sensation. On the palate this whisky is nice and simple. I found elements of sweet toffee, vanilla, a hint of coconut and something nutty (almonds, I think). However, that alcohol spirit comes through again towards the end. The finish was short and disappeared almost instantly but it was crisp and pleasant with the fresh fruit from the nose prominent. This is a decent and refreshing whisky which is quite light and fruity. The only thing that spoils it is the raw spirit sensation that is present. I think this would be a great, easy drinking whisky for a hot summer's day and is pretty good value for money at just over £20.