Spey Tenné
Official Bottling | 46% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average. In a good way.
TL;DR
Well-finished and balanced, except for the tippy bottle
I blame Dougie
I’m sure most of us have bought whisky upon the recommendation of others.
Whether a close friend, the apparently knowledgeable clerk working your local store, or someone within the online global whisky community you’ve never met. In my case, a chap named Dougie whom I have never met and who is some 6,500 km away from me, influenced my purchasing decision.
I’m not alone in this wild and whacky whisky world where people who are physically disconnected but digitally connected to each take recommendations from someone they have never met. In the early days of my whisky journey, I wasn’t aware of many whisky review sites, nor were there many YouTube review channels. Sure, they were out there and some are still revered to this day, but it was done old school, much in the way Dramface is today, where the written word dominated everything.
Fast forward to a few years ago and my palate matured even more to the point I was actively chasing and researching whisky, and YouTube channels such as the Whiskey Tribe allowed my palate and tasting abilities to proverbially level up. Working late into the evenings with double digit work days, the digital format allowed me to learn about different distilleries, unusual facts, and the association of flavours I was having a hard time to identify - all the while my bleary eyes and sleep deprived brain solved engineering problems. It was an exciting time as the slope of my whisky knowledge was skyrocketing.
In some cases, I was able to taste the same whisky others were going through in front of me. I was able to identify notes I wasn’t able to before or flat out reject their descriptions based on what I was experiencing. Whisky is subjective after all. Over the span of several months I quickly learned whose whisky palates seemed to align with my own and I began to trust them.
Correspondingly, my purchasing decisions were influenced by their reviews and I chased unique flavours from around the world. Given the burgeoning global expansion of malt whisky, the ability to trust someone’s opinion means you’re less-likely to purchase a dud, keeping your hard-earned money in your pocket and maximising your enjoyment. It’s just smart business. After all of this “research”, the next phase in my whisky journey had begun and one that led me to tossing my hat in the ring to be a Dramface writer.
The purchase of this Spey whisky was pure coincidental timing. I’d just read our own Dougie Crystal’s Spey Fumare cask strength review and was intrigued based on his descriptions and the salesmanship inherent to his beautifully written reviews. I’ve had several of the same whiskies Dougie has reviewed and I generally matched his findings. This helped build an inherent level of trust in Dougie, so when he found something interesting, it was more than likely I would too. I wasn’t aware Spey had made the journey across the Atlantic to my locale and therefore the hunt for a bottle had died before it had begun.
“It reminds me of those comical pepper grinders that require you to have your hands 4ft apart just to get some freshly cracked pepper on your cheesy toast. Or a table leg. Or a javelin.”
Needing to get the kids out the house while my better half was working on a Saturday, I decided to knock an item off the to-do list before nap-time with a quick stop at a local store to snag some unique beer and wine for a wedding gift basket for a friend. With a full cart and the whisky shelves conveniently located between me and the tills, I had to quickly scan the shelves. Well, what did I spy with my little eye? For the first time in my area, the trio of Spey core releases were available and stood towering over their peers. The Trutina is 100% ex-bourbon, the Fumare is made from peated barley, and the Tenné is finished in tawny port casks. Tipping the bottle to un-wedge it from the shelves given its gargantuan height, the Tenné made its way into my cart.
Let’s see if Dougie led me astray or keyed me into a delicious distillery and whisky.
Review
Spey Tenné, Official bottling, Natural colour, Non-chill filtered, 46% ABV
CAD$80 (£50), widely available
Here’s some confusing items. Scanning the internet, there are many variations of the Tenné. By that I mean I’ve found various bottles of widely varying batch sizes (ranging from 1,200 to 18,000 bottles) and differing descriptors of “limited release” and “selected edition”. I appreciate the batch size information but I’m at a loss to understand the need for switching the descriptors. My bottle reads “limited release” but the Tenné currently listed on Spey’s website is “selected edition”.
My label reads Bottle No. 0 2 9 6 9 -18000.
On WhiskyBase, there are several Tenné’s spanning many years, batch sizes, and label descriptors. This might lead me to believe the Tenné can therefore be susceptible to batch variation but how to track batches? There are no readily visible printed codes on the outer surface of the bottle and the only hint I can spy is on the backside of the label where mine reads L21-8106. If Spey is switching the descriptor on the label, would it be too hard to toss a batch number or date on the front label, especially given the Tenné could be quite a small bottle count batch release?
I’ve seen reviews of the Tenné spanning back to 2014 and also a significant difference in colour between batches or bottles. Compared to some, and assuming no photo trickery, my bottle is significantly lighter in colour than other batches. Regardless of the variations, it appears the Tenné will always be an ex-bourbon matured whisky finished for about six months in tawny port casks.
Nose
Crème brûlée with a raspberry and strawberry compote, or a strawberry/raspberry jam sugar cookie. Slight alcoholic tingle but only if you stick your olfactory sensor close to glass.
Palate
A white pepper and cinnamon tingle gives way to strawberries and cream. With a dash of water, the sweetness is amped up and the crème brûlée returns. A lingering red berry compote sweetness and mild cinnamon tingle lasts on your tongue for a good length.
The Dregs
So how did Dougie’s review of Spey work out? Does he get a gold sticker or is my trust in his opinions shaken?
Nope, he nailed it.
Given his review was a cask strength peated release and not really relatable to the unpeated and port-finish Tenné, the underlying quality of the Spey liquid he identified carried through. Crème brûlée appeared in both of our reviews and perhaps this creamy vanilla dessert is part of the distillery character. Dougie didn’t have paragraphs to describe the smell or taste, just a few easily relatable descriptors we can all understand. The Tenné was very similar; enjoyable, well-rounded, and without obvious faults. Not insanely complex but delicious and good value for the flavour experience. It’s highly drammable and won’t stick around on my shelf long. Which is good because it’s a tipping hazard.
Score: 5/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB
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