Breath of Speyside 16 Years Old 2009

Distilled in 2009 at an undisclosed Speyside distillery, Breath of Speyside is Adelphi's label for single malt from a distillery that prefers not to be named. That's part of the fun: you judge the whisky purely on what's in the glass, and can try to place its style among the region's many distilleries.

Selected and bottled by Adelphi Selection, it was matured for sixteen years in a single first fill Oloroso sherry butt.

Oloroso is a rich, dry sherry from Jerez in southern Spain, aged oxidatively to develop deep, nutty and dried-fruit character. A butt is a large cask of around 500 litres, traditionally used in the sherry bodegas, and on its first fill with Scotch it passes on plenty of that sherry influence.

Sixteen years in an active Oloroso butt makes for a classic sherried Speyside malt, with the cask playing a big part in the final dram.

Bottled at 16 years old from cask #901036, presented at natural cask strength, natural colour and no chill filtration.