Speyburn 10-year-old (D.2007, B.2017) Hepburn's Choice / 46%/ 0.7l

Hepburn's Choice is a line of whiskies from the Langside Distillers portfolio, founded in 1948 and now a subsidiary of Hunter Laing & Company.

Its patron is William Hepburn, the Laing brothers' maternal grandfather, a diplomat and a great whisky connoisseur. Hepburn's Choice editions are single cask, bottled at 46% abv, unchill-filtered and with a natural colour. The Speyburn on display here, distilled in 2007, spent over 10 years in a refill sherry butt, and was bottled in 2017 in an edition of 795 bottles. Speyburn, the largest distillery in the Inver House portfolio, is based in Speyside and has the capacity to produce over 4.5 million litres of spirit per year, most of which goes into its own blends.

Nose : mild, slightly floral, vanilla, brown sugar, lemon peel, apples, pineapples, elderberry liqueur, hints of hay and potpourri.

Palate: soft, vanilla, caramel, butter cookies, apples, pears, white pepper, a touch of ginger, roasted nuts, some hay and oak.

Finish : medium long, with notes of breakfast cereal, vanilla, caramel, green apples, a touch of pepper and oak.