Spey “Tenne”

The Speyside distillery which can be found within the Cairngorm mountains is one of the prettiest distilleries found in Scotland. Originally a mill and croft dating back to the 1700’s and in use until 1965 the buildings were converted and re built over a 25 year period by founder George Christie into the distillery we see today with the production of whisky starting Christmas Day 1990..

The distillery takes it water from the river Tromie which is part of the Spey tributary. With a capacity of around 500,000 litres per year the distillery is not one of the giants but certainly does know how to produce a great dram.

Todays expression is the wonderfully coloured Spey Tenne, matured in bourbon barrels before receiving a 6 month “finishing ” period in freshly emptied Tawny port casks (Tenne is Latin for Tawny ) limited to 18,000 ( ok not exactly a ” limited edition” ) This whisky is natural colour and bottled at 46% abv ..

Nose.. Straight into a big fruity burst of plums, nectarines, candied orange and ripe pear. There is a lovely floral note running through with strong hits of chocolate and cherries.. Honey and caramel bring in the sweet notes with vanilla and a soft almond note hiding underneath.

Palate.. Soft, fruity with a touch of gentle oak are first to come forward before vanilla, caramel, chocolate orange and a heather honey sweetness comes forward.

Finish.. Drying but sweet.

Thoughts.. The colour on this is just amazing and draws you in instantly, the nose sets you up even more and the palate delivers everything you wanted to get.. Can you ask for anything more ?!!!

A great dram from this little distillery that deserves a little more recognition..