Scotch Whisky Review #196: Distiller’s Art Speyside 21 Year (1993)

Distillery: Speyside Distillery

Bottler: Hunter Laing

Region: Speyside

Price: €7.82 for a 30 mL sample

ABV: 48%

Cask Type: Sherry Butt

Age: 21 Year. Distilled in October 1993, in Bottled 2015.

Color: 1.2, Russet/Muscat. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: (according to the wife) It’s on the earthy side. There’s a bit of leather with a note of burnt bacon. A bit of berry pops up towards the end as well.

Palate: It starts of a rich caramel but that might be the only redeeming note in here. The caramel is quickly overtaken by something incredibly musty and sour. It’s almost vinegar like. Not good.

Finish: Unfortunately long. A note of old apple cider vinegar and tons of ethanol stick around.

Conclusion: It’s been a while since I’ve drain poured a whisky but this one went down the drain pretty quickly. The nose is a bit promising with earthy tones and a bit of berry. The palate starts off with a really nice rich caramel but everything quickly goes downhill from there. The musty and sour note are just incredibly unpleasant. The apple cider vinegar and ethanol that lingers made me want to scrape my tongue clean. I’m left wondering if I got a bad sample, but as things stand, I have to say this is the worst whisky I’ve had.

Final Score: 5.

Scotch Whisky Review #196, Speyside Review #82, Whisky Network Review #274

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.