Summerton Whisky Club’s February 2025 Club Bottle – Speyburn 18 Year Old
Single Malt Scotch Whisky

In 1897 as Queen Victoria celebrated the 60th year of her reign, a successful whisky merchant set himself a challenge of building a distillery and crafting a whisky in time to toast the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

John Hopkins was drawn to the Speyside region of Scotland, known to contain some of the cleanest and most mineral rich waters in the world, to build his distillery. While hunting for the perfect spot Hopkins discovered the Granty Burn, an untouched stream hidden in a secluded valley.

These narrow glens aren’t a common spot for distilleries and for good reason. Space was a precious commodity, and every last inch had to pull its weight. To meet this challenge Hopkins enlisted the help of world famous innovator and architect, Charles C. Doig, who instead of building out, built the distillery up through the trees.This meant designing an entirely new style of distillery and building over 3 levels to fit into the steep valley’s topography. Doig’s ingenious solution to the limited space included the now iconic pagoda ventilator which allows for a constant current of air to flow over the grains.

On the last night of the year, Hopkins and his team toiled through a storm of Arctic proportions to craft a whisky in time to toast the Queen’s Jubilee. Determined that their first bottle would bear the year 1897 on its label, the team battled against the elements wearing overcoats and mufflers to protect them from the freezing snow. After hours of hard work and with heroic efforts of his distillery team, Hopkins finally triumphed and was rewarded with the first barrel of Speyburn whisky.

The influence of the American and Spanish oak casks after 18 years of maturing gives this skillfully crafted golden single malt scotch whisky an unparalleled depth of flavour and character. The complex and complimentary tastes create a rich whisky that embodies generations of experience distilling at Speyside.

Colour: Dark golden.

Nose: Brimming with sweet toffee, sugared almonds and chunky tropical fruit. Hints of caramelised sugar and candied apples give way to very slight honey notes.

Taste: Creamy dark chocolate, toffee, a gently oak spiciness and a touch of citrus give way to a long, slightly smoky finish with an enticing bittersweet edge.