Glen Spey is quite the obscure distillery, as you don’t really see many Official bottlings (there was a F&F bottling some years back, but nothing since I think), and there are not many IBs as well. The distillery itself is owned by Diageo, and the whisky it makes goes mostly into J&B .The distillery was founded in 1878 by James Stuart & Co. under the name ‘Mill of Rothes’ and was an oats mill originally, before The distillation equipment was simply added to the existing mill in the years before the Glen Spey distillery was sold to the Gilbey company of London in 1887… Cool, right?
Enough history, and back to 2017..
So not very famous, and not very collectible, and not quite as sexy as some.. I think this is the first Glen Spey tasting notes on the blog, so another distillery is marked off the “must try” list. Oh well. This bottling is a 2004 vintage , bottled by G&M and a part of their “The wood makes the whisky” campaign. Always interesting to try one of the more obscure distilleries. right?
Glen Spey 2004 (bottled 2016) – Connoisseurs Choice (Gordon & MacPhail) , £34 
Nose: quite fresh and malty, with grassy notes, some dough, and a hint of mint, not much going on here, it’s not bad, but it’s not very interesting as well…
Palate: grassy first, then getting malty, and a bit fruity, with some vanilla, more mint, and buttery oak. Quite generic actually.
Finish: Spicy with ginger powder, almonds and cereal.
Conclusion:
A rather mediocre dram all in all, nothing spectacular, quite ok-ish, and not bad in any way, but not great too. Meh.
Score: 81/100