Scotch Whisky Review #463: Mercury’s Selection Speyside 6 Year (2015)

Distillery: Speyside Distillery.

Bottler: Young Spirits Company.

Region: Speyside.

Age: Distilled in 2015. Bottled in 2021.

ABV: 59.9%. Cask Strength.

Price: £65.00 at auction.

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat. Natural Color. Non-Chill Filtered.

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Nose: It really needs a lot of air time. When you first pour it, it is quite ethanol-y. After about half an hour in the glass, things do dissipate nicely though. When things do settle down, it is quite vegetal in scent. You get a fresh vegetable scent of some root vegetables. Celery, radishes, and kohlrabi are what come to mind. It has that “crisp” scent to it that comes along with those vegetables. Something akin to lemongrass also makes and appearance along with a bit of the sherry.

Palate: Without any water, the flavor reminds me quite vividly of artificially flavored green apple lollipops. I’m talking about the disk shaped ones like these that I’ve never seen sold in a store but they somehow appear in random places. It does need a bit of water though and with a few drops of water, this goes into full on sherry overdrive. It goes from a very artificially flavored candy flavor to an incredibly rich milk chocolate. Some raisins and figs as well go along super well with the chocolate notes. Nothing overly complex but it is quite tasty.

Finish: Short. There’s a little bit of the lemongrass-celery note as well as a tinge of varnish.

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Conclusion: My experiences with Mercury’s Selection have been really good so far. My experiences with the Speyside Distillery, however, have not with a whisky from them occupying the lowest score I’ve ever given. I nabbed this young bottling at auction with a lot of hesitation and equal amounts of curiosity, was it just a fancy label slapped on a crappy whisky or was there actually something worth having here? Turns out, its the latter once you give it enough time to rest. With ample air time, the nose becomes a really fun vegetable medley. With a little bit of water, the palate is a wonderful expression of what sherry maturation can be like. It is a touch on the simple side but ultimately quite pleasant. Score one for the cat label!

Final Score: 80.

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Scotch Whisky Review #463, Speyside Review #163, Whisky Network Review #620

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky and I will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection if feasible.
• 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product and I’m likely wanting a bottle or two.
• 80-84: Quite good, pleasant overall though there is usually a few things that could be improved still.
• 75-79: Good, enjoyable to drink but ultimately flawed.
• 70-74: Alright, solid and 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.