To teaspoon or not to teaspoon, thats the question..
Teaspooning is the method of ensuring other bottlers can not name your distillery and call the release a single malt.. Why do this ? well it is a way of protecting your name and also ensuring the liquid is not sold in a way that could effect the brand..
This method is undertaken by a number of distilleries for various reasons but some companies do undertake this exercise more often than others. Today’s expression is obviously one of those distilleries and along with it’s sister distillery ( yes i have a fairly good idea which distillery this hails from ) has a long standing history of teaspooning its wares for the indies to release..
The question is though as to just how much liquid from the alternative distillery actually enters the cask, some believe it may actually be none, but once you suggest it is done then it stops the bottler from using two things, the origins and the term ” single malt ” hence protecting yourself from the possibility of any back lash.
Batch 3 – Blended Malt #1 18 year old
Distillery.. Unnamed
Region.. Speyside
Age.. 18 years
Abv.. 47.3%
Batch.. 3
Outturn.. 1,049
Nose.. Apples and pears in abundance.. This is so fruity and with a wonderful balance of fresh apple peels, poached pears along with tropical fruits like pineapple, kiwi and then a hint of date and plum resigns the resulting belief to just be classed as fruity, add a little freshly cut grass and some dried hay and this is very inviting.. A hint of spices can be found with cinnamon and ginger trying their best to be the centre piece but failing miserably to overcome the fruits..
Palate.. A spicy start has this.. Ginger and pepper are my first thoughts here with a very warming mouthfeel.. Eventually those fruits start to take control but its fleeting, green apples and some citrus bitterness are the mainstay with a little sweetness coming from cinder toffee and some honey..
Finish.. The spices dominate the finish
Thoughts.. This is very typical of the whisky coming from this distillery and so very typical of what we like to call the Speyside character, so fruity on the nose with a nice balance of spices.. As for the teaspoon part, does it detract from any enjoyment ? Nope.. Just enjoy it for what it is and leave the worrying to someone else..
This sample is taken from the 2020 That Boutique-y Whisky Calendar.
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