Wemyss Spice King 8 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

About Wemyss Spice King 8 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

"Our family links to the whisky industry date back to 1824," says William Wemyss, the founder and CEO of Wemyss Malts, "when John Haig built his distillery on family land in Fife."Wemyss (pronounced "Weems") is the ancient Gaelic word for caves and stems from the rocky outcrop on which the Wemyss family home — Castle Wemyss — rests. Haig's distillery eventually became known as Cameron Bridge and in 1826, it became the first distillery to produce grain whisky using the column still method invented by Robert Stein.

Today, the Wemyss family expertly blends some of the finest whiskies made across Scotland. "Our whiskies are chosen by a tasting panel" says Wemyss, "and the tasting panel comprises people who work in the business, members of the family, and most importantly, is chaired by Charlie MacLean who helps us select the industry's best whiskies to bottle under our brand."

MacLean, who has been writing about whisky since 1981, was trained in "the sensory evaluation of potable spirits" by the Scotch Whisky Research Institute in 1992. In addition to being a visiting lecturer at the Smithsonian Institution, he is also a Councillor of Clan Maclean and was elected Master of the Quaich (Quaich is derived from the Gaelic word meaning cup), one of the Scotch industry's highest accolades, in October 2009.

Blended with up to 16 different single malt whiskies to produce 3 signature styles of whisky named after their flavor profiles. 8YO Spice King is a Highland Island blend, bottled at an untamed 56% ABV, its spicy character, which takes over near the finish, is amplified by the strong ABV, but the whisky is led by smoky, sweet, zesty, earthy notes.

About Scotch

Scotch is the most popular whisky in the world and is considered the king of them all! There are five whisky regions in Scotland (six if you count the not officially recognized Islands), and each of them produces spirits with unique properties and distinct tasting notes. (The type of grain used determents the type of the scotch.)

Malt whisky is made of malted barley, and grain whisky uses other grains like corn or wheat. Most of the time, a whisky is blended from different distilleries hence the name blended scotch, but if a malt whisky is produced in a single distillery, we get something extraordinary called a single malt.

Check out our impressive selection of scotch whiskies, find your new favorite in the Top 10 scotch whiskies, or explore our treasury of rare & hard to find scotch whiskies.