From Rothes to Normandy — that is the journey this Glen Spey cask has taken. Eleven years matured in American oak, followed by a finish in a calvados cask from the apple orchards of Normandy. The result is a Speyside single malt that combines the familiar with the unexpected.
Expert's description
Glen Spey 2010/2021 Coopers Choice 11 year is a Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in American oak and finished in a calvados cask, bottled at 55% by The Vintage Malt Whisky Co. The Coopers Choice is the series from The Vintage Malt Whisky Co., founded in 1992 by Brian Crook in Milngavie. The company is named after the cooper — the cask-maker — one of the oldest and most essential crafts in the whisky world. Every release is single cask, natural colour and without chill filtration.
Glen Spey is the Rothes distillery that is rarely seen as a single malt. Distilled on 1 June 2010 in American oak casks, this bottling received a finishing period in a calvados cask (#803006) before being released in January 2021. Calvados — the Norman apple spirit — leaves clear traces: sweet, crisp apple fruitiness and a lightly spiced complexity. Only 354 bottles.
Tasting notes
Nose
Delicate peaches and sweet vanilla open first, supported by tropical notes — mango and passionfruit — along with apple peel from the calvados cask.
Palate
Soft spice and walnut whip with sweet poached pears and cooked apples in balance with lightly malty oak. The calvados cask adds a sweet, fruity complexity without dominating.
Finish
Crisp and dry with fruit and spice cutting through. Clean and well-defined.
Specifications
Name: Glen Spey 2010/2021 Coopers Choice 11 year
Distillery: Glen Spey
Bottler: The Coopers Choice
Region/Country: Speyside, Scotland
Type: Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 11 years
ABV: 55%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: American Oak & Calvados Cask
Bottled: 2021
Number of bottles: 354
Cask no.: #803006
Flavour profile
Fruity · Apple · Spicy · Floral · Creamy
Did you know?
Calvados is France's answer to whisky — a distillate based on apple cider or pear cider from Normandy, matured in oak casks. Combining it with Scotch single malt is a relatively new trend, but the results can be surprisingly harmonious.
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