Special edition Spey whisky marks Byron union

Speyside Distillery is celebrating the 200^th anniversary of Romantic poet Lord Byron’s marriage with the launch of a new limited edition whisky.

Spey Lord Byron has been launched to mark the marriage of one of the world’s most famous poets

The just 200 cases – amounting to 1,200 bottles – of the no-age-statement port cask aged Spey expression have been released to mark Byron’s union with Lade Annabelle Millbanke in 1815.

Byron is said to have gifted a cask of Spey whisky to King George III to celebrate the occasion. His marriage ended less than two years later.

“It is a fascinating part of our history and one of which we are incredibly proud, said John Harvey McDonough, CEO of Spey Distillery. “It is understood that when Lord Byron wed at Seaham Hall in Northumberland, a cask of Spey whisky was sent down to Kew Palace in London as a gift for the king.”

“A replica of the cask remains in Seaham Hall, where Spey has a mini museum in the cellar. Two centuries have passed, but we are still making Spey whisky in the same time-honoured traditional ways and we are continuing to create very desirable drams.”

Spey Lord Byron, bottled at 46% abv and with an RRP of £95, is said to have a taste of “warm, nutty tawny port”, with a “soft, sweet toffee aftertaste”.

Lord Byron spent his early years in Aberdeen – around 100 miles from Speyside Distillery – before completing his education at Harrow School and Cambridge University. One of the world’s most famous poets and pioneer of the Romantic movement, Lord Byron died in Greece after developing a fever in 1824.

In 2014, Speyside Distillery launched a whisky exclusively for sale in the UK’s royal palaces, called Spey Royal Choice.