Beginners guide to Speyside whiskies
Published: (26-02-2008)
Author: Wine & Spirit News
Desk
What is it?
Speyside is the "golden triangle " of Scotch malt whisky as it contains the largest number of distilleries. Its boundary runs along the Moray Firth from (roughly) Nairn to Buckie and reaches inland in a rough wedge along the rivers Spey, Lossie, Deveron and their tributaries.
Why did it become so important?
Speyside was one of the centres of excellence which emerged during the smuggling era of the late -18th and early -19th centur ies. The high, rough lands around the river Livet offered protection to moonshiners and gave them access to hidden hill tracks, allowing them to make their hooch and transport it to market. At one point, it is said, there were 100 illicit stills operating in Glen Livet.
When licit distilling was reintroduced post -1824, Speyside boomed as the former moonshiners went legal. Its make also found favour with blenders from the 1850s onwards and a further expansion took place. Today, most blends will have Speyside malts at their heart.
So what's the style?
It's probably best to think of Speyside as making two styles: light and rich. The former encompasses delicate malts with a range of aromas that stretch from malty (Knockando) through fragrant (Linkwood) to grassy (An Cnoc, Cardhu) to gently fruity (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich).
The richer style covers deeper-flavoured malts such as Ben Riach, Balvenie, Cragganmore and the beefy, dried fruit -accented Macallan, Glenfarclas and Mortlach. There's even some heavily peated oddities from Ben Riach - made for blending houses who didn 't have any Islay distilleries. Every home should have not just one Speyside but a range .
Can I go there?
I think you jolly well should. All of the major distilleries are open to the public, there's a working cooperage in Craigellachie, great whisky pubs (try The Highlander in the same village) and even a festival which runs from May 1-5. So what are you waiting for?