Weymss (pronounced Weems, for those who like me for a long time mistakenly twisted this name into many other things) are a producer of blends and single cask bottlings. They have long standing connections to the Scotch whisky industry, as their land was used for the site of John Haig’s first distillery. They now pride themselves on tasting and nosing many whiskies from around the country, with the aim of selecting only the best casks for both their blends and single cask bottlings.
They have recently released a batch strength version of their three very popular blends, which we were lucky enough to get to try for a tweet tasting. Sadly, the postal service let us down and we didn’t get to drink them on the night. However, that does mean we now have them to review, so here is the first of three reviews…. Spice King Batch Strength.
Price: £40 – 50
Appearance: A joyful golden yellow, like the fronds of Big Bird’s happy face.
Aroma: Citric lemon notes, spice and warmth of ginger, sweetness of toffee and cider apples.
Taste: There is a deep leathery feel to the start of this dram, which swirls with an apricot jam sweetness. Imagine that a business man has left his favourite toast and jam combination in his briefcase and instead of going mouldy and stinking, it has some how miraculously morphed into a wonderful love child of the two.
In the middle there is a light waft of smoke, coming from the pipe of a salty fisherman, who stands proudly on the pier of his fishing village, scoffing popcorn and eating fruit gums. All these flavours mingling together.
Lastly as the dram subsides, the smoke opens, letting out from within itself notes of dark charcoal, rich wood and sherry sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Smoky, leathery, but easy to drink.
Overall: One of the advantages of good blended whisky is that the company creating them has a wider flavour brush to paint with. When that company has a skill and deftness of sense, then you end up with a whisky like this, infinitely drinkable with lots of different flavour notes to the dram.
Real Dram Factor: 7.4
Source: Tweet Tasting Sample
More Information: Wemyss Malts Website
Buy Online: Kingsbarn Distillery Shop: Wemyss – Spice King Batch Strength – £44.95