Speyburn 10yr

Speyburn Single Malt 10yr, 43% alv, abc stock #006106 $25.95

Speyburn website

Tasting Notes: Nose Fresh, clean and aromatic with a rich lemony fruitiness.

Colour Pale gold with amber highlights.

Taste Medium-bodied with a delicate, fruity character and a dry, warm, peaty finish.

Intro: for $26, I decided to take a chance. For some reason, I've become leary of Scotches sold in a tin package. This time around, we have 4 'testers', all with varying experience with Scotch. Let's see how Jen, Tyler, Tylers brother Chris, and myself find the Speyburn 10yr single malt.

Nose and straight up:

Nathan: On the nose, it smells rather sweet, reminding me of something between the Scapa and Glenfiddich. Slight spice, maybe some vanilla. As I take my 1^st sip, I breath in some honey and I anticipate an antisepticy taste. It is sweet, but not as sweet as I expected. Definitely not as sweet as the Scapa, nor it is very antisepticy. It has a dry, yet warm finish. I may have to create a new classification for some Scotches, like a desert scotch. The Speyburn 10yr would easily fit into this category.

Jen: With the initial smell I pick up the sweetness of vanilla and a hint of smooth honey. When my lips hit the glass I can immediately feel the tingle of the spice, the sweet taste of vanilla and honey fill my mouth as it sits and going down a lingering warmness fills my body.

Tyler: Lingering warmness, indeed. I'm liking it, but I think I'm going to prefer this over ice, rather than neat. I smell a hayride through an orange grove, I think.

Chris: I like it. Does that help?

On the rocks:

Nathan: On the rocks, it is smoother. I get no antiseptic taste, but I also don't get the incoming aromas or warmness. On the rocks may be good for me during times of indigestion/reflux, but otherwise for the time being, I like this scotch straight up. On the rocks, this would be great to give to someone who isn't a scotch drinker. It calms the burn down, chills it, but still has flavors of vanilla and honey. Not as much as it does straight up, but that's ok.

Jen: The nose is a little less antiseptic iced down, still picking up the sweetness but the ice definitely cuts back on the intensity of the vanilla and honey aromas. When it hits my mouth I pick up a slight sweetness and going down it cuts back on the warmness and spice. In my opinion with this being a more mild Scotch icing it down mellows it out a bit too much for my taste...thus I prefer it straight up.

Tyler: Much better. Far easier to drink, but I'm still thinking I'm going to like it with a bigger ice/scotch ratio. Still smells like a hay ride, which is not a bad thing at all, and should not be taken as such. I would be happy to keep drinking this without club soda*. I suspect (given the price) that it would also be good with soda, but it's nice to know that this could be good either way.

*Screw you, I LIKE scotch and soda. I will not apologize for that.

Chris: I like it better straight

Diluted (1/1 ratio):

Nathan: Diluted may be too much. I can't smell anything worthwhile. Even color wise, it looks too pale. Drinking, it is way too light. A bit of a pinch, no real flavor, with a slight after taste of...heather?

If I were to try this diluted again, I'd either change the ratio, or not dilute it at all. I don't think this one needs any dilution.

Jen: Going into this I knew that diluted with a 1/1 ratio would be a bit too much for this Scotch...but for the love of Science and consistency with our blog the show must go on! This is a very mild Scotch and diluted with 1oz of water takes the aromas and tastes completely out of it. So straight up it is for me!

Tyler: I guess, as the resident “diluter”, I'm going to be the only one that likes it this way. Believe me, I can appreciate the strongest flavored scotch neat, in all it's glory. But I'm also plenty comfortable with the fact that just a hint of scotch flavor is also delicious. And this really isn't bad with water. I think all the flavors are there, they are just dulled severely. I was just hit with the idea of trying this in a Rob Roy... Hmm... I'ma go look for some sweet vermouth

Chris: Tastes like water!

Overall, I am impressed with this $25 single malt in a tin container. I think I'll keep this one stocked, as it is pretty good, especially for the price. It's not bad in a Rob Roy either.

Scapa 16yr

Scapa 16yr
Abc stock # 006033, $69.90
www.scapamalt.com

The Scapa 16yr is 40% alc/vol. The bottle states ‘Aged in Orkney for 16 years this golden malt delivers sweet and silk-smooth heather-honey taste perfectly balanced with delicate spice’. The bottle has a snazzy sailboat (or is that a schooner?) stamped in the glass.

Seeing as how I have a good bit of tasting to do this evening, my buddy Tyler will be lending a hand.

Nathan: The color is a light golden honey color. It smells a bit floral and spicey, with a tad hint of honey. It has a slight peat smell if you breathe in deeply. It flat out ‘smells’ smooth.

Tyler: It smells like my fireplace and some straw. I couldn’t quite place it at first, it kind of smelled like fresh dirt (not the band), so I went and sniffed some of Amy’s stoneware, and it wasn’t quite right. Then I thought of bricks (not Tom), and went into the living room, and there it was. Bricks and old smoke. Not that this is terribly smoky scotch, but it has some of the same notes. Also some honey? I’ll taste it shortly.

Nathan: Tasting it straight, it is smooth. Mild honey. It doesn’t numb your mouth as most will do, but it steps it up a notch down the gullet. After a few seconds, the finish has some spice. It reminds me of the American Honey bourbon, albeit thinner and much smooth.

Tyler: On the tongue, it starts off really smooth, almost too subtle, but then burns once it gets to the esophagus. Not a huge fan of it neat, but maybe some ice or distilled water will open it up some.
Nathan: Iced…it doesn’t require cooling to drink. As I said, it’s very smooth and pleasing. It does, however, dull down aroma a good bit, but also helps bring out the Heather in the finish.

Tyler: Iced…it doesn’t help much. It cools the burn, to be sure, but I think it takes most of the flavor away, leaving just a bit of sweetness on the tongue. Where Nate gets more “heather-y”aroma out of it right after the ice has been added, I just get more of an “alcohol-y” smell (And who is Heather?). I doubt I’ll drink this on the rocks again. It’s too “wintery” for icing down, and a bit too rough for me to drink neat when it’s this hot out. Maybe distilled water will do the trick. Nathan: Diluted: 1oz scotch, 1/2oz distilled water….., it seems that any sort of straight dilution takes away from this Scotch. I think much of the aromas are gone, except for the spice. The honey still lingers in the finish, but mostly I get the heather and spice.

Tyler: Nope. Distilled water did almost exactly what you might expect, given the previous two tastings. It brought out the “alcohol-y” smell again, and removed most of the taste. It landed on the heartburn scale right between “neat” and “on the rocks”.

Will I drink this again? Sure! Will I buy it? Probably not. I just feel like there are other scotches out there that fit my tastes better at this time. Maybe as my palette develops, however, I’ll gain an appreciation for it.
Nathan: Overall, I’m slightly disappointed. For the price, I somewhat expected more. Maybe it’s the heat and humidity this time of year in Virginia, but this isn’t something that I think I’d enjoy frequently right now. As Tyler said, it’s probably better mixed/blended. Maybe once it’s much colder out, and the wood stove is slow roasting me, I’ll try it again. For some reason, after a few minutes, I feel like the Scapa has a bit of citrus in it. We may try it again at Christmas time, with some orange peel candies. For science!

Tyler: I don’t think we’re going to get to it tonight, but if I felt like spending a few dollars at a bar for a single malt, this might make a decent Scotch and Soda. Purists out there screaming at your computer monitor can simmer down. I enjoy a scotch and soda, and like someone on pipes.com said to me once, “if you enjoy it, you’re doing it right.” It’s something I can just get through without thinking too much about, like my high school math classes.