Whisky : Kirkland Signature Speyside 20 Year

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 46%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon, finished 6 mo. in Oloroso Sherry

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home

Nose : The dry floral spice of Potpourri with a bowl of apple sauce. There are more subtle notes of oak and leather in the background. Occasionally there is an odd a bit of bronzer or suntan lotion.

Palate : Bright and spicy with a full body. There is not a whole lot of sherry influence besides a bit of currant jam. Oaky flavors of vanilla and rum raison cake round out the palate.

Finish : Lingering woody spices: ginger and clove. Its a good solid finish, but one I noticed began to drop off after the dram had been breathing for a while.

Score : 6

Mental Image : A bubbling pot of potpourri fills a kitchen with floral herbal spices. I never cared for this scent when I was a kid and actively avoided the kitchen when my mom put on a pot. It’s possible she knew that and that’s why she did it in the first place.

VS the Kirkland 18 Year Speyside : I grabbed the 20 as soon as I saw it so I could compare it with the extra bottle of 18 I still had. So how to do the two compare?

The 20 has a much fuller body, more pronounced wood spices, more refined flavors, and a much stronger finish. I had previously thought the 18 was reasonably full bodied— but side by side the 20 left me feeling as though the 18 was too light. Those two extra years in ex-bourbon casks really intensified the wood spice, which ultimately muted most of the sherry influence that still came through in the 18. The 18 in general felt much less refined. 

Conclusion : Between my fiancé and I, it was a unanimous victory for the Kirkland 20 Year Speyside.

Notes : I really love the generally honest forthright nature of distillers and independent bottlers who tell you exactly what is in a glass from cask types, to ages, to barley varietals. If I have a guilty scotch pleasure, it is the bottles put out by Alexander Murray, especially their outturns for Kirkland/Costco. No telling exactly which distillery this scotch came from or where it was aged. All we can know for sure is that it is a single malt from the Speyside region that sat in ex-Bourbon casks somewhere in Scotland for 20 years before a quick finish in Oloroso sherry seasoned casks. According to Alexander Murray founder Steve Lipp, the Speyside distilleries the company sources from most often include Glenrothes, Tomintoul, Tullibardine, Clynelish and Glen Ord. I would hasard any of those are a possible source for this mystery single malt with the exception of Tullibardine which was temporarily mothballed around when this 20 Year Speyside was distilled. It also does not strike my as having really any of the waxy character or fruit notes of Clynelish, which leaves three possibilities.

I love that Alexander Murray has bottled their recent Kirkland Signature editions at 46% abv. The higher abv. has really given these latest mystery Speysides a much more intense bouquet of flavors than some of the earlier lower proof bottles. Though it is priced a bit more than the 18 was ($5 more in my parts), it is definitely still a good value scotch and worth picking up to sip on when you just want a solid uncomplicated pour of scotch.