Side by side : A pair from The Wine Society

The Wine Society bottles and sells a lot of wine, but they have been releasing whisky for over 60 years too.

Here I've got two to try!

Dram	Highland	Speyside
Characteristics	40% ABV NAS Bottled 1960's/70's	46% ABV 30yo Distilled 1991, bottled 2021
Distillery notes	None	These are the last four hogsheads (7239-42) and two butts (7236-7) of this sublime 1991 Speyside from a single distiller. The malt has an expressive nose of candied orange peel and dried apricots with subtle oak, clove spice and flaked sea salt on the finish. A rare and superlative dram.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Mid gold in the glass, swirls leave a thick line in the glass which beads up and falls as quick thin legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls leave a thick line in the glass which beads up and falls as quick thin legs.
Nose	A closed to start but some patience is rewarded with orchard fruit, honey and a little toffee.	Again a little closed, 30 years has really sent this dram to sleep. A little time, air and some serious swirling offers orchard fruit and citrus rather than sherry and jam notes. There's a little oak, salted caramel and some turmeric.
Palate	Smooth fruity arrival, orchard fruit from the nose: apples, pears and apricots; a little honey and a gentle bite of peppery spice as the liquid disappears. Warming, leaves a drying caramel note on the tongue and a little brown sugar.	Spicy arrival, honey, salted caramel and some cheap strawberry jam. There are some dried fruit notes with a little honey but the peppery spice prevails whilst the liquid is in the mouth and there's an unpleasant turmeric and sour citrus note as it goes.
Finish	Long dry brown sugar a little peppery spice.	Medium length spicy with a little sweetness.
Overall	The Highland reminded me a lot of a Glenmorangie - simple and uncomplicated, the Speyside has just too spicy - it ruined an old dram that should have been full of flavour and complexity. It's make up of 4 hogsheads and 2 butts is a little strange - maybe trying to mask something? I've heard good things about other Wine Society bottlings so don't let me put you off trying them - the Highland unicorn was pleasant enough!.

Thanks to @Andrews_Share for the Highland sample - sorry it's taken so long to open it! Thanks(?) to @whiskytip for the Speyside sample.