The Cask Strength Tenne is the first of two cask strength versions of Spey whisky. This Tenne whisky is a Port finished whisky, of 6 months, with no added colouring. Quite the polar opposite to the previous Black Whisky we checked out a couple of days ago.

Again, this is a limited batch run of 1500 bottles and is available for under £70. This version of Tenne is also not chill-filtered so as pure a bottle of Spey whisky as you can get.

Spey whisky is produced from their distillery in the village of Kingussie which is famous for being the home to some wonderful animals at the Highland Wildlife Park which is also owned by Edinburgh Zoo. The park is a great place to visit and somewhere I love going and taking the kids. A personal favourite is the Polar Bears

They are full of character and if you get them on a good day you can see them playing with their toys of builders helmets and they are particularly excited by a football I’m told.

Kingussie also has another characterful place to visit in the form of the distillery. The small distillery which is now owned by the same person who created and marketing the Spey whisky brand now also owns the distillery which produced that whisky the Speyside distillery.

Spey whisky isn’t marketed strongly in the UK and Europe and the branding of the bottles and names don’t really fit into the trends in those markets either. You could be forgiven for thinking this was a distillery struggling to keep up but not far from it. In the last 5 years they have opened a shop in Aviemore, expanded their production staff and in 2021 announced plans to open a second distillery locally. Focusing on the far east the business has found a niche which works for them and funding from Taiwan to make their business plans come to life.

Tasting Notes

Colour – Deep claret colour, almost opaque.

Nose – concentrated fruit notes along with jam & red wine are evident.

Palate – Despite being bottled at cask strength, the texture is still light, with distinct sweet and fruity flavours in balance, and working well with the higher strength spirit.

Adding a few drops of water unlocks some of the more delicate flavours & aromas, and adds further complexity

Official Tasting Notes

Colour – lightly reddish hue

Nose – Irn-Bru and Stewed apples

Palate – Christmas Cake, stewed mince meat and brittle Caramel sheets

Finish – long finish of sweetie shops and liquorice allsorts

Final Thoughts

This is my firm favourite of the ones I will write about in this little Spey mini series. Good value as well.