Speyside Scotch Whisky: Overview and Best Value Picks | Tasting | BetterAvecBourbon

Today we have a tasting of 6 Speyside single malt scotches all hovering around 12-15 years of age. Speyside is a protected region for scotch whiskey in the north east of the Scottish highlands, and as such, can ascribe the scotch as either speyside or highland, such is the case with whiskeys like Macallan. Of the 154 active distilleries in Scotland, over 50 of them are in Speyside accounting for anywhere between 30-50% of scotch production. What makes Speyside distinct from Highland scotch is, as you’ll see from the tasting notes, is they tend to lean a bit sweet, fruity flavours like honey and pear. But like all scotch, even with Speyside there’s outliers, which make it difficult to assign essential characteristics.