SPEY Beinn Dubh - 43%
From the distillery website
A small, hand-built, artisan distillery nestled amongst the foothills of the beautiful Cairngorm Mountains, still hand distilling in time-honoured traditions and widely acknowledged to be amongst the prettiest of all Scotland’s distilleries. Originally a barley mill and croft dating back to the 1700's, it closed in 1965 and over the next 25 years it was slowly and lovingly converted into a single malt distillery, which then started producing spirit in 1990.
Produced with spirit distilled at Speyside Distillery, and matured in American bourbon barrels then finished in heavily toasted port casks from The Douro Valley.
Tasting notes:
Appearance: Beautiful chestnut in colour, forms a thin line which forms an inverted crown whilst slowly falling as thin, oily legs.
Nose: A fruit salad of both red and dark berried fruit lightly frosted with icing sugar. Dark chocolate and orange liqueur. A little time in the glass brings mocha with a caramel syrup shot together with just a hint of ginger.
Palate: The port cask influence immediately comes to the fore with this whisky. Dark fruits, raisins and sultanas, nutty espresso, dark chocolate enrobed orange peel, tobacco leaf and old leather saddles.
Finish: Toasted almonds, stewed plums, ginger and cinnamon, spicy oak and a slightly tannic astringency.
Summary: Many years ago I was bought a bottle of Loch Dhu, the original ‘black whisky’ from Mannochmore. At the time it was very much seen as a novelty, and wasn’t produced for long. My lasting memory of the bottle is the taste of molasses, widely believed to be due to the heavy handed use of E150 caramel colouring. As a result, when this tasting pack arrived I looked at the bottle with a healthy dose of scepticism.
However, reading the description of heavily toasted port casks and seeing the actual colour in the glass made me more curious and keen to put that Loch Dhu experience to the back of my mind. Far from being a black whisky, Beinn Dubh is more of a deep chestnut in colour, beautiful to look at but how much is derived from the cask and how much is added isn’t obvious.
First impressions on the nose were very positive, huge amounts of fruit, together with chocolate and coffee made this a very enticing proposition. Unfortunately that’s where this whisky really hit its peak for me, whilst those notes transferred through to the palate, they seem muted in comparison which left me slightly frustrated and definitely disappointed.
It’s still a very drinkable whisky, and far better than Loch Dhu, but after that spectacular nose the rest of the experience felt like an anti-climax. Maybe a higher abv would make a difference, and there’s no non-chill filtered statement either. Currently priced at £50, not bad in the current market but in my opinion still a touch too high. That said, one point of similarity to Loch Dhu is that there is a curiosity value about a ‘black’ whisky and with the holiday season rapidly approaching I can see this selling pretty well.
If you would like more information on SPEY malts, or the Speyside distillery, follow the link to the company website
Transparency: this sample was received free of charge for independent review. The author has no affiliation with the distillers and no goods or other incentives were exchanged, offered or requested.
