The Wine Reference🍷 SupportSpeyside: Scotch malt whisky
Photo: Tom McPherson on Unsplash
The valley of the River Spey holds around half of Scotland's malt distilleries, more than any other area.
How it's made
Scotch must be distilled and aged in Scotland for at least three years in oak. Many Speyside malts mature partly in ex-sherry casks.
Malted barley is mashed with soft local water, fermented with yeast for two to three days, then distilled twice in copper pot stills. The stillman keeps only the middle cut, the heart, and sends the heads and tails back to be redistilled.
History
Many Speyside distilleries began as illegal stills hidden in the glens; after the Excise Act of 1823 made licensing affordable, legal distilleries spread fast, and the railway in the late 1800s carried their whisky south.
Ageing and label terms
By law Scotch must age at least three years in oak casks in Scotland. An age statement on the label is the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle; ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks are the most common.
Styles
Two main styles: light, grassy and fruity malts, and rich, sherried malts with dried fruit and spice. Most Speyside malts are unpeated or only lightly peated.
Rules and protected names
Speyside is one of the five protected Scotch whisky regions, and it may appear on the label only for whisky distilled there. Scotch must be at least 40% ABV in the bottle.
How to serve and classic cocktails
Try it neat with a few drops of water to open the aroma. Lighter malts make good highballs; classic cocktails include the Rob Roy, Blood and Sand and Penicillin (usually with blended Scotch).
With food
Fruity styles suit smoked salmon, mild cheeses and apple desserts; sherried malts go well with dark chocolate, fruit cake and hard cheeses.
Good to know
Dufftown is often called the malt whisky capital, and the Speyside Whisky Festival is held every spring. Many distilleries also supply malt for well-known blended Scotch.
Producers
- The Macallan
- Glenfiddich
- The Glenlivet
- The Balvenie
- Aberlour
Bottles to try
The Glenlivet 12 Year Old
Light and fruity: pear, pineapple, honey and vanilla.
Serve: Neat or in a highball
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 Years Old
Rich sherry-cask malt: dried fruit, ginger, wood smoke and orange.
Serve: Neat
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old
Fresh pear, green apple, cream and a soft oaky finish.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: 12 years, American ex-bourbon and European ex-sherry oak
Made in Dufftown since 1887 by William Grant & Sons, still family owned. After maturing in two kinds of cask, the whisky is married together in large oak tuns before bottling.
Serve: Neat, on ice or in a highball
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old
Honey, vanilla, toasted nuts and soft sherry spice.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: 12 years, ex-bourbon casks then European oak sherry casks
Matured first in American oak, then moved into sherry-seasoned European oak for a few months. Balvenie still grows some of its own barley and keeps its own coppersmiths and coopers at the distillery in Dufftown.
Serve: Neat or with a splash of water
Aberlour A'bunadh
Rich and powerful: Christmas cake, orange peel, dark chocolate, cinnamon and toffee.
Strength: Cask strength, around 60% (varies by batch) · Age and cask: No age statement, first-fill Oloroso sherry butts
Bottled in numbered batches straight from the cask, without chill-filtering or water added. The name means 'the origin' in Gaelic, and every batch is matured only in Spanish Oloroso sherry butts.
Serve: Neat with a few drops of water to open it up
Glenfarclas 15 Year Old
Rich and sherried: raisins, orange peel, toffee, walnut and a warm, gently spicy finish.
Strength: 46% · Age and cask: 15 years, ex-sherry casks
Glenfarclas has been owned by the same Grant family since 1865 and still heats its large stills with direct flame, which is rare today. Its house style leans heavily on sherry casks.
Serve: Neat or with a few drops of water
Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Soft and easy: vanilla, honey, orange zest and a light oaky spice.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: No age statement, first-fill ex-bourbon casks
A blend of single malts from Speyside, created by William Grant & Sons for mixing. The name nods to the sore shoulders maltmen got from turning barley by hand on the malting floor.
Serve: In a highball with ginger ale, in a Whisky Sour, or over ice
Cardhu 12 Year Old
Light and sweet: pear, honey, vanilla, heather and a gentle malty finish.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: 12 years, mainly American oak casks
The distillery on a hill above the Spey began as a farm still run by John and Helen Cumming in the early 1800s. Cardhu is one of the key malts in Johnnie Walker blends.
Serve: Neat or in a highball
Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera
Honeyed and rich: sultanas, baked apple, cinnamon, marzipan and a soft oak finish.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: 15 years, ex-sherry, ex-bourbon and new oak casks married in a solera vat
Whisky from three cask types is married in a large solera vat that is never fully emptied, so each batch carries a little of every earlier one. The method was introduced at Glenfiddich in 1998 by malt master David Stewart.
Serve: Neat or with a splash of water
The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 Year Old
Soft and sweet: toffee, vanilla, tropical fruit and a touch of brown sugar.
Strength: 43% · Age and cask: 14 years in oak, finished in casks seasoned with rum
After 14 years in traditional oak casks, the whisky is finished in casks that have held a blend of West Indies rums chosen by The Balvenie. The distillery still grows some of its own barley and keeps its own floor maltings, coppersmiths and coopers.
Serve: Neat or with a splash of water
Cragganmore 12 Year Old
Elegant and layered: honey, heather, dried fruit, malt and a faint whiff of smoke.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: 12 years, oak casks
Founded in 1869 by John Smith beside the Strathspey railway. Its unusual flat-topped spirit stills and worm-tub condensers give a complex, weighty spirit, and it is the Speyside choice in Diageo's Classic Malts.
Serve: Neat
The Glenlivet 15 Year Old French Oak Reserve
Rich and spicy: baked apple, toffee, walnut, cinnamon and a creamy, nutty finish.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: 15 years, part finished in new French Limousin oak
Part of the whisky spends its final months in new casks of French Limousin oak, the wood better known for cognac, which adds spice and a drier oak grip. The Glenlivet was the first licensed distillery in the parish in 1824.
Serve: Neat or with a splash of water
More whisky regions
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